The movie starts two years before the seminal leak of US government data by WikiLeaks. Julian Assange (Benedict Cumberbatch) coming off of his work in Kenyan takes on Daniel Domscheit-Berg (Daniel Brühl) as part of the team. Julian tells him that they have an army of volunteers, but pretty soon, he finds that they are mostly alone in the work. The whistle blowers start bringing in more and more shocking revelations, and catches the eyes of Guardian reporter Nick Davies (David Thewlis).
There seems to be a lot of Assange supporters hating on this movie big time. I'm neither supporter nor detractor. I'm just a guy who watches too many movies. Unless you think Assange is God, I doubt there's too much objectionable material in this movie.
Cumberbatch does a good job as a mercurial mysterious Assange. I do wish for a greater insight into his life, but this movie is mostly told through the POV of Berg. Daniel Brühl is a little bland. It makes me appreciate the superior work of Andrew Garfield in 'The Social Network' playing opposite another computer pioneer.
I'm good with its depiction of the computer world inside WikiLeaks as a series of desks. However when Berg finds out that there is only Assange and him in the room, the desks need to disappear leaving only two. Turning the other people into Assange is cute, but it's more visually honest to faze out the other desks.
I'm not so good with the preaching at the end. The movie wants to end, but the writers force David Thewlis to put in the two cents on the fourth and fifth estates. Then the stuff that Assange says is as forgettable as it gets. More than anything, it feels very dishonest unless he actually said those words. It seems the real Assange is much more angry at the movie than is depicted.
