Slogging, useless twaddle
This “suspense-thriller” was thirty minutes too long and had more fat in it than a Texas BBQ, pounds of crap should have been shredded from the script and at least three of the characters could have been easily omitted. I found myself feigning interest and started counting the unapologetic sighs surrounding me in the theater, the endless stream of cell-phone lights that started twittering in the dark as people started checking their email – anything to avoid the monotony of this severely underwhelming story.
Oh, make no mistake this movie will have some nut-job conspiracy theory groups bounding to their laptops, “See, See, I told you that Blackwater (for example) was going to take over the nation”, as if the CIA, NSA or newly created DHS would allow their power to be suborned by some private firm of mercenaries – depending on your take on these groups. I was really left flat by this film’s message, if there was one – I missed it.
I am trying to find a word better than lame to describe this film, but I really think lame works well. Lame in the sense that when all things are revealed you will hear a sort of dull hum surrounding you as everyone’s eyes collectively roll in unison. Lame with the acting of Ben Affleck. Lame writing with almost no character development to speak of, and the lamest element of all is the cheesy sexual/romantic themes that are terribly tacked on.
The only saving grace was Jason Bateman, who nailed his character superbly, of course his character was hardly what I would call compelling or remotely interesting. With mediocre acting in most scenes, with few exceptional stand-out explosive bursts, I almost puked watching Ben Affleck pretend to be an actor (he just needs to lose that stupid smirk forever planted on his face) – in one scene he cries on demand, and everyone writhed in their seats in agony as he attempted to make it seem genuine. Ben, you didn’t convince me. Rachel McAdams was the youthful cub blogger, Della Frye, who is learning the mean street ropes of print journalism from veteran Cal McCaffrey (Russell Crowe) who performed well but nothing remotely worth mentioning.
If I had paid money for this one, I would be (wait for shameless self-promotion) . . . irate. There is a sub-text throughout the film that only print journalism is serious journalism, that “you have to get your hands dirty when reading real news.” I disagree, as you might have guessed, but the old dinosaurs are just not ready to be ground up into a nice fine pulp and used to line the cages of canaries and canines. Sorry, print media, but I prefer NOT having grey smudges on my thumbs when getting the news – your days are numbered, Adapt and Overcome. If you are expecting an action-packed thriller, you will be bored to death. If you see this one, don’t say I didn’t warn you.
