The trailer for “Closed Circuit” leads you to believe that this is going to be an action/suspense thriller about hidden cameras and the fact that we’re being watched at all times. But it turns out that’s not what “Closed Circuit” is about AT ALL! There are no action scenes (other than a two-second, minor car crash), no suspense, no thrills and the hidden cameras take a backseat to a dry, straight-forward crime drama (and that’s even a stretch).
Eric Bana and Rebecca Hall play Martin and Claudia. They’re two London lawyers chosen to defend a terrorist believed to be the mastermind behind a 2012 bombing that killed 120 people. But they must stay separated from at each other at all times throughout the process because of all the classified secrets involved in the trial. That shouldn’t be too difficult, right? Except that they’re ex-lovers (which no one else, apparently, knows about).
As he gets into examining the evidence Martin realizes that there’s more to his client than he’s being told, and the information puts both himself and Claudia in jeopardy. At that point you expect “Closed Circuit” to play-out like a “Bourne” film – with chases and double-agents and exciting fight scenes. But we get none of that. The only similarity between this film and any of the “Bourne” movies is an appearance by Julia Stiles, who has a small role as a reporter for The New York Times.
The first hour of “Closed Circuit” is somewhat solid and there’s potential for it to play-out as a respectable thriller. But I just kept waiting for something interesting or exciting to happen. Nothing ever does. There are no twists or surprises. The storyline simply goes in one direction for a long time and then fizzles-out. It’s almost as if, in the editing room, the filmmakers realized “we’ve got nothing”. The script is full of holes, and don’t even get me started on the final
scene.
Bana and Hall are good together and add a little energy to an otherwise dull screenplay by Steven Knight (“Eastern Promises”). Jim Broadbent leads the supporting cast. His Attorney General character is both obvious and useless.
“Closed Circuit” is rated R for language and brief violence. And I mean brief. Blink of an eye and you’ll miss it. And that’s also what happened to this film when it opened at the end of August.
On The Official LCJ Report Card, “Closed Circuit” gets a C-.