Greetings again from the darkness. I try to spend very little time re-hashing movies that deliver very little ... I prefer to move on to the next one with a clear head. This one frustrated me because it could have - even should have - been so much more.
Director John Crowley was responsible for the very entertaining Michael Caine film Is Anybody There? and writer Steven Knight penned three scripts that I very much enjoyed: Dirty Pretty Things, Eastern Promises, and Amazing Grace. The cast is very talented with Eric Bana, Jim Broadbent, Ciaran Hinds, and ... well ... also Rebecca Hall and Julia Stiles. So why does it feel so empty?
The movie begins with a horrible act of terrorism - a suicide bomb in London that we view through a grid of 12 closed circuit screens. You would be incorrect if you think there is a payoff for frantically scanning all screens looking for clues. This device is nothing more than a reminder (over and over again) that we are constantly being monitored while in public.
The ensuing trial provides a peek at the British legal system, but the most interesting sub-plot ... the young son of the accused terrorist ... is minimized in favor of the generic romance between two legal defense attorneys (Bana and Hall). Additionally, Ciaran Hinds character is simply too easy to read and Ann-Marie Duff is totally miscast. My favorite moments were the all-too-rare exquisite verbal diatribes from the great Jim Broadbent.
Chalk this one up as a forgettable would-be/should-be political legal thriller that just doesn't thrill. It's of little comfort to know that I was probably being watched on the theatre security cameras as I longed for something worth watching on the screen.
Director John Crowley was responsible for the very entertaining Michael Caine film Is Anybody There? and writer Steven Knight penned three scripts that I very much enjoyed: Dirty Pretty Things, Eastern Promises, and Amazing Grace. The cast is very talented with Eric Bana, Jim Broadbent, Ciaran Hinds, and ... well ... also Rebecca Hall and Julia Stiles. So why does it feel so empty?
The movie begins with a horrible act of terrorism - a suicide bomb in London that we view through a grid of 12 closed circuit screens. You would be incorrect if you think there is a payoff for frantically scanning all screens looking for clues. This device is nothing more than a reminder (over and over again) that we are constantly being monitored while in public.
The ensuing trial provides a peek at the British legal system, but the most interesting sub-plot ... the young son of the accused terrorist ... is minimized in favor of the generic romance between two legal defense attorneys (Bana and Hall). Additionally, Ciaran Hinds character is simply too easy to read and Ann-Marie Duff is totally miscast. My favorite moments were the all-too-rare exquisite verbal diatribes from the great Jim Broadbent.
Chalk this one up as a forgettable would-be/should-be political legal thriller that just doesn't thrill. It's of little comfort to know that I was probably being watched on the theatre security cameras as I longed for something worth watching on the screen.