If you like the courtroom dramas of John Grisham or the espionage of John LeCarre, you may dig the new political thriller CLOSED CIRCUIT. It begins with a bang – during the opening credits, the screen is broken into an increasing number of closed circuit camera displays trained on an outdoor London marketplace. A truck explodes killing 120 people. One member of the suspected terrorist cell survives: Farroukh Erdogan (Denis Moschitto), who’s promptly arrested and jailed. Preparations begin for the trial but there’s a hitch: the government will use classified evidence to prosecute Erdogan, evidence so super top secret that neither he nor his lawyers can be allowed to see it. Hence the need for the Attorney General (Jim Broadbent) to appoint Claudia Simmons-Howe (Rebecca Hall) as Special Advocate, an additional government-approved defense lawyer, one who has clearance to see classified evidence and who can argue for its full disclosure when the trial moves to “closed” session. The rules for the Special Advocate are clear: once the secret evidence is shared with her, Claudia will not be allowed to communicate even with the defendant or with other members of the defense team. But just as the case is about to go to trial, Erdogan’s lawyer “accidentally” falls off the roof of a building, and a new defense attorney, Martin Rose (Eric Bana), steps in. Martin is tenacious, driven, and brilliant – and coincidentally, a former flame of Claudia’s. The two lawyers make an uncomfortable pact to keep their former affair hidden but as Martin begins to piece the case together, the outlines of a sinister and deadly government conspiracy begin to emerge.
If you’re tired of thrillers that substitute mechanical mayhem for tension and jeopardy you might find CLOSED CIRCUIT worth a look but on balance, it’s a mixed bag. It’s only partially successful in its attempt to take a serious subject – a terrorist trial in England – and make it commercially palatable via shadowy alley chases, fights, and lots of characters looking over their shoulders. There is some good stuff swirling around inside this glass of intrigue; Bana and Hall are likeable, James Broadbent is suitably creepy, and Julia Stiles shines in a small role as a doomed American journalist who knows too much. The first half consists of a lot of typing on keyboards and flipping through legal notes – never the most cinematic way to tell a story, but Stephen Knight’s script and John Crowley assured direction keep the unfolding of the plot mildly engrossing for a while. The big problem with CLOSED CIRCUIT is that nothing about it seems fresh or original. It’s an undistinguished type of now-dated Euro-thriller that mostly consists of a series of paranoid meetings in sealed rooms, snatched conversations in obscure corners of London, and revelations that may or may not cast light on Martin and Claudia’s investigation. There are plenty of twists and turns but most can be seen coming a mile away. CLOSED CIRCUIT mostly comes to life during the courtroom scenes. Miss Hall is especially good in these but once the basics are laid out, the trial takes a back seat to chases and murders, then a race against the clock to save the defendant’s endangered young son. The film also suffers from an obvious, by-the-numbers music score that screams “This is a thriller…so be thrilled!” CLOSED CIRCUIT is slickly made with a nice mix of settings within London, but the end result is weak tea.
2 1/2 of 5 Stars
CLOSED CIRCUIT opens in St. Louis Wednesday, August 28th at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Theater
