Genre: Thriller
Director: Kasper Barfoed
Plot: A burnt out CIA agent must protect a CIA broadcast station and its operator from outside forces who attempt to breach the station.
The gist: After watching this, one can't help but feel that John Cusack is going the same route Nicolas Cage is, as in taking smaller, low profile projects which will probably end up on DVD only.
That's not to say The Numbers Station is bad, in fact it's decent. However the quality of the film is obviously low, looking almost like the entire thing was shot on a shoestring budget and in less than a month.
Cusack plays Emerson, a burnt out CIA operative who botched a mission and is sent to guard a remote CIA broadcast station and the civilian operative who broadcasts the numbers from there every day. Things get hairy when unauthorised people try to break in and use the station for themselves. Then Emerson, who is in this situation because of a conscience problem, now has to decide again whether to follow orders, or follow his heart.
Director Kasper Barfoed wisely uses the most fascinating tool about his film well, which is the idea of broadcasting numbers to agents through the station. This isn't something viewers are used to, at least not for me, so I liked the creativity. However the rest of the plot seems pedestrian and predictable, unfortunately.
The good: Cusack makes decent chemistry with Malin Akerman's civilian broadcaster character. He plays the burnt out agent well, though you can't help but sense he deserves better roles than this. Akerman's fine, but she does get occasionally annoying trying to get through to Emerson. The idea of using number codes to send out assignments is, as I said, intriguing.
The bad: The feel overall is bland. There are just a few minor shootouts and a couple of decent explosions. If you're looking for an edge of the seat thriller, this is not it.
Verdict: A decent thriller that relies on breaking codes more than busting heads. Just barely over average. (3/5)
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