James Crowley’s “Closed Circuit” takes an icy-cold and cynical look at the British government that, in the movie, is a powerful, oppressive force capable of carrying out (or covering up) anything it wants despite the efforts of even the most determined and honest lawyers.
There is no defeating them or escaping them — not with the many closed-circuit security cameras perched all around London. As the movie’s tagline states: “They see your every move.”
Its subject matter (government monitoring of citizen activity) should prove relevant and timely to American audiences, in light of the recent scandals involving the National Security Agency (NSA) monitoring of e-mails and phone calls.
Aside from that real-life connection, “Closed Circuit” is a fairly standard conspiracy thriller (structure-wise) that’s somewhat intriguing but ultimately undone by uninteresting characters.
It starts rather abruptly, with a bomb going off in a populated area of London, followed by a suspect, Farroukh Erdogan (Denis Moschitto), being apprehended. Lawyers Martin Vickers (Eric Bana) and Claudia Simmons-Howe (Rebecca Hall) are assigned to his defense.
At first, everything seems normal, weird things happen now and again (Martin somehow catches the exact same taxi numerous times at different locations around the city), but nothing to get alarmed about.
But then — as they get deeper into the case — the weird happenings start to escalate, and it becomes clear that there are mysterious, ominous forces at work, interfering with Martin and Claudia’s work. They soon become paranoid. An unnerving, impending sense of doom pulses through every frame in “Closed Circuit.”
One can’t help but be reminded of the same eerie paranoia felt in other conspiracy movies such as Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Conversation” and Brian De Palma’s “Blow Out.” And like those pictures, “Closed Circuit” has a similar pessimistic ending.
The movie is well made: Jim Clay’s production design is handsome and neat. Adriano Goldman’s cinematography is simple but effective in creating a sense of paranoia, and he photographs the entire movie in a dark-blue/grayish light. Crowley moves the picture along at a steady pace, and Joby Talbot’s score heightens the eeriness and intrigue.
Despite all of this and Bana’s and Hall’s best efforts, “Closed Circuit” fails to create compelling protagonists. The protagonists in “The Conversation” and “Blow Out” (played by Gene Hackman and John Travolta, respectively) had an imperfect, everyman quality that made them fascinating to watch, while Martin and Claudia come off too clean and one-note.
Also, in an attempt to create some backstory and tension between the two lawyers, we find out early that Martin and Claudia used to be romantically involved with each other. But Crowley and screenwriter Steven Knight don’t really do anything with this development after introducing it. In fact, Bana and Hall have almost no chemistry together.
To put it simply, they’re forgettable, ultimately making the entire film rather forgettable and making its other minor flaws more blatant — all of which is a shame, considering the movie’s craftsmanship and its relevance to current events.
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