Closed Circuit

Closed Circuit has a lot going for it.  It has so many elements to it that, for me, would make for a great movie.  It has a cast I like with Eric Bana, Rebecca Hall (huge movie-crush), and Jim Broadbent.  Director Jim Crowley also made Intermission, which is a movie I love.  It's a political/legal thriller.  It's British.  So with all these elements in the mix, is Closed Circuit a great movie?  No, but it is a pretty good movie.

Basically, a pair of lawyers (who used to be lovers) have to defend a terror suspect who is accused of setting off a bomb in London.  As they negotiate the bureaucracy and build a defense, they begin to uncover a conspiracy that may involve MI5 (basically the British FBI).

First off, Closed Circuit is a great looking movie.  It's a cold almost sterile blue-gray movie.  The camerawork is also wonderful.  There's only a few "fancy" shots.  Mostly, it's a competently filmed movie with the focus being on conveying a good story.

And a good story it is.  It addresses issues that are on the forefront of people's minds, not only in England but in the U.S. too.  Too much governmental power, security agents spying on civilians, terrorism, abuses of the legal system.  It's all there.  Closed Circuit does an excellent job of establishing a sense of paranoia and maintaining it. 

None of the performances are stellar, but they are all good enough to get the story told without being distracting.  I actually felt like (acting-wise) I was watching a really, really good episode of TV.

Closed Circuit is a solid thriller.  Give it a watch.  It's a very short movie, so it winds up being very fast paced.  This isn't going to win any awards or change the world or even enter the popular culture, but it's a really nice bit of entertainment.  And that's all we can really ask of a movie.

6 out of 10