The Numbers Station

The agent in this interesting little thriller — well played by John Cusack — is up to the Company’s usual dirty tricks.

There are some decent shootouts, but the movie's strongest assets are the soulful performances Danish director Kasper Barfoed, making his American debut, draws from Cusack and Akerman.

Director Kasper Barfoed defaults to intense replays of surveillance audio recordings, frantic strokes on computer keyboards, and standard-issue chases.

Sentencing a sad-looking John Cusack and a hard-working Malin Akerman to roughly 90 minutes of solitary confinement in a poorly lit underground bunker, this glum, juiceless spy thriller is a by-the-numbers affair indeed, unlikely to find an audience on any frequency.

Sits awkwardly between shoot 'em up and psychological thriller without offering the excitement of either.

A predictable hodgepodge of uninteresting psychological cat-and-mouse, dimly lighted action.

This dreary spy drama is as flat and airless as the concrete bunker in which it unfolds.

Unfairly maligned by most everyone who seemed to be demanding Grosse Pointe Blank II. This definitely is not that movie. Also not the standard action thriller suggested by the trailer. It is a very good existential portrait of a spy/assassin ground down by the reality of his profession. Emerson Kent could be Martin Blank, 15 years later, if he had missed his high school reunion. Cusack's performance reminds me a bit of John Hurt's anxiety- ridden killer in The Hit (1984).

Um filme com bons atores mais totalmente esquesivel, infelizmente poderia ser mais caprichado!!!

When one's professional ethics were tested. The idea for a film seems good, but it did not work out for this film. The screenplay lacks some good scenes. The suspense was weaker and so the action sequences. Though the film had good actors in the lead and visually looked fine, like the locations. Most of the story was set in a single location, except the opening sequence. Almost a minimal cast film. So it had all the qualities to succeed if the plot was developed smartly. The story of a CIA's field agent who has been assigned to one of their remote stations in England after he had failed to obey the order from his fellow senior officer. A code operator Katherine, whom he has to protect find himself in a tight position when their building was breached. Once again, his professional ethics are tested, but how he deals the situation is what covered in the remaining parts. Its most certain that John Cusack days are over in the entertainment industry, just like Nicolas Cage and John Travolta. But it's good to see them at least in small flicks like this. So I did not expect much from it, hence not got disappointed. But I thought it should have been better in a few areas, because I've seen lots of good B movies these days. One time watchable film, but looks like it is a simplified version of 'Wanted'. 5/10

The Numbers Station had a very interesting plot with tons of potential. The problem was, the movie was actually very boring, I hated John Cusack's take on his character, and the last 10% of the film was just stupid. Addressing each of those issues one-by-one, the bore factor was on the mediocre writing. The setting had the potential for an intense spy thriller but it was badly underutilized. As for Cusack, while I'm normally a fan of his, I didn't like the direction they went with his character. I think a Jason Bourne type of personality would've came across better on the screen. Instead Cusack almost seemed just empty. While I imagine that's what they were going for, it doesn't make for a very good protagonist. Lastly, the ending was just weak. Without getting into spoilers, it just felt unrealistic and almost rushed. For a movie that went nowhere for way too long, everything wrapped up a bit too quickly. Overall this film had some potential but was poorly executed.

And all the nonsense we do not even say that the actors brought this horror on their backs. I do not understand what he was director and screenwriter Do not Look! Anyone who does so, that would take!