Movie Review: "Closed Circuit" (2013)

Movie: "Closed Circuit"
Director: John Crowley
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 36 minutes

Image Source

A dozen closed circuit cameras show a terrorist bombing at a market place in England. A truck was backed up into an alleyway and blown to pieces. The suspected terrorist was apprehended a few days after the attack and must stand trial. Due to the fact that this incident was a terrorist action, two trials take place: the first is a private, closed-door trial where Claudia (Rebecca Hall) will defend the terrorist, and where all evidence is kept secret from the public; then, Martin (Eric Bana) will be the defense attorney at the standard public, second trial. Because of this, two court appointed defense attorneys are instructed not to contact one another, nor have any previous conflict of interest. Even though they slept together in the past, they both say there is no conflict of interest. Martin was a replacement for the first defense attorney who "killed himself." As Martin delves deeper into the trial's evidence and the death of his predecessor, it becomes clear that the facts are not what they seem and the conspiracy runs deeper than they ever imagined.

It is a completely inappropriately named movie, for one: aside from the camera footage at the beginning of the film, there is very little "closed circuit" camera action going on, and that footage never pertains to the trial, and is never mentioned again. There are a few shots of the actors walking around town, but other than that, barely anything to call this movie "Closed Circuit." When you hear that title, you expect a big brother type of movie where people are watching your every move, and while the attorneys are often tailed, it doesn't ever seem to be through the use of closed circuit cameras.

For having such a low review, this movie wasn't half bad. It is a decent suspense film with bits of thriller thrown in here and there; there are some decent twists, though nothing you couldn't see coming. Eric Bana really isn't that good of an actor, though he is very attractive, you could pretty much replace him with any other European actor and the same efficacy would remain in tact. This movie is not earth-shattering, but is interesting enough to keep viewers entertained/hating the shadiness of government for a few hours.

My Rating: 6/10
BigJ's Rating: 6/10
IMDB's Rating: 5.9/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 44%
Do we recommend this movie: Sure, why not?