A lethargic movie that cannot decide if it is a spy movie, a horror flick, or film noir. John Cusack has two expressions, which he deploys randomly. The female lead character is a strange combination of competent, highly skilled intelligence and clichéd helplessness of the sort that is so old fashioned it's laughable. Malin Ackerman is OK in the role, managing to wring out a slight bit of sympathy for her character, but for me it was mixed with disappointment she did not have a stronger character to work with. Liam Cunningham just phoned in this one. I had some hope after the beginning, which sketched the outlines of a possibly interesting variation on the familiar jaded-spy-has-revelation, changes-life-saves-the world script, but murkiness, un-engaging flashbackiness and poorly staged action followed. It's grim, but not in a good way, and utterly, utterly humorless. Confusing sequences do not make you want to watch it two or three more times to figure it out; you know it's like that because its not well done, not because there's anything more there. The plot is barely glimpsed, and the action is not enough to matter. It's possible to make tense, interesting, well paced movies set in limited spaces- Alien comes to mind- but this is not one of them.
Review of The Numbers Station
