OVERVIEW: From the producers of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy comes a riveting and suspenseful mystery starring Eric Bana and Rebecca Hall. A high-profile terrorism case unexpectedly brings two exceptional lawyers (Bana and Hall) with a romantic past together on the defense team. They soon realize they’ve stepped into a dangerous web of cover-ups and lies, and their knowledge of the government’s top-secret classified evidence has put their reputations and lives at stake. Co-starring Ciarán Hinds, Julia Stiles and Jim Broadbent, it’s a non-stop, heart-racing guessing game that critics call “an entertaining conspiracy thriller.” (Jocelyn Noveck, Associated Press).

SYNOPSIS: Director Edgar Wright and actors Simon Pegg and Nick Frost reunite for a third film following the successes "Shaun of the Dead" (2004) and "Hot Fuzz" (2007). In "The World's End," 20 years after attempting an epic pub crawl, five childhood friends reunite when one of them becomes hellbent on trying the drinking marathon again. They are convinced to stage an encore by Gary King (Simon Pegg), a 40-year-old man trapped at the cigarette end of his teens, who drags his reluctant pals to their hometown and once again attempts to reach the fabled pub - Closed Circuit. As they attempt to reconcile the past and present, they realize the real struggle is for the future, not just theirs but humankind's. Reaching Closed Circuit is the least of their worries.

FILM REVIEW: With Closed Circuit is, in every sense of the term, turns out to be just another run-of-the-mill thriller elevated, to today’s relevance (the War on Terror subject matter). Directed by John Crowley (who’s 2007 drama “Boy A” proved to be a breakthrough for both him and his star, Andrew Garfield),this latest effort really doesn’t bring a similarly intimate character study, though it does present relevance in a post-9/11, government-conspiracy thriller that is set in London, as opposed to the Big Apple.

Eric Bana (Hanna, 2011), Rebecca Hall (Iron Man 3, 2013), Ciarán Hinds (John Carter, 2012), Jim Broadbent (Cloud Atlas, 2012) and Denis Moschitto (Woman in Love, 2011) are all wonderful in their roles; bringing out the best acting one would expect from the predominantly European cast. However, I was thoroughly disappointed with the weird role that Julia Stiles played, coming off of her huge success in Silver Lining Playbook, in 2012. She, in her role, unfortunately did not raise the level of interest one could imagine her bringing to this flick. In my humble opinion this was simply a huge let-down on the writer’s part. They could have done a lot more with her character in the movie.

The convoluted British legal system that this film presents comes under fire here. Whether intentional or not, director Crowley allows us to see the bureaucracy of a system that the Brits call law. Closed Circuit simply shows that the legal system in that country is absolute madness, to be put politely. The legal, overly elaborate rigmarole adds more than just confusion to this screenplay. 

Written by Steve Knight, whose previous credits include “Eastern Promises and Dirty Pretty Things,” this latest effort has a gritty, very mature tone and a collection of skilled, but simply drawn-up characters. Furthermore, like the previous film, this new effort is just another variation of “who-dunnit” type of storytelling. The twists and turns are rarely surprising, which puts the burden on director Crowley to allow his lead cast to instill every moment with a feeling of intrigue and curiosity, but somehow they miss the mark. This results in a very predictable plot that is complicated by a heavy overtone of British legal jargon, that is enough to spin the average layman’s head a few times.

Nevertheless, for the most part, Closed Circuit succeeds in limited ways. On one hand, the work presents class and an effectively restrained style. Whilst on the other hand, it loses audiences in depths of British legal jargon. Moreover, the fact that little of it lingers in the memory after the end credits roll is indicative of how generally unremarkable the whole project is. I for one wasn’t overly impressed with the manner in which the subject matter was presented on the big screen and would not recommend it for theater viewing, but more like a mature date night DVD rental. It deserves three out of five stars for quality acting and relevance in subject matter.

BLU-RAY: The film is presented in widescreen in a 2.40:1 aspect ration preserving its theatrical format. The picture is just flawless. Not only the picture looks great in this release, also the sound it is good, a 5.1 Dolby Digital in English that provides a good complement to the picture. It also includes  English  and Spanish subtitles.

VIDEO:
Widescreen (2.40:1) 16x9

AUDIO:
English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Spanish DTS Digital Surround 5.1 

Subtitles - English Spanish French

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Secrets Behind the Camera: Closed Circuit