The Numbers Station

THE NUMBERS STATION really reminds me of Anton Corbijn's 'The American' a lot. Emotionless espionage operatives discovering them. In both instances these males are swayed by females reminding them. Very different results to the stories, however.

THE NUMBERS STATION is definitely the more dark of the 2 films, filmed in the English country side, and in a forbidding fortress like facility in which codes in the form of 4 digit strings are broadcast relaying instructions to field espionage personnel and military units. John Cusack is the protagonist, an operative about to break down from the stress and unable to carry out an assignment, a murder. So he's reassigned to a numbers station, to more or less rest. He has no such luck when the station is attacked by parties who wish to broadcast false assignments. His partner, an attractive young woman played by Malin Akerman, is personable enough to invoke the fellow's emotions. Very poetic, and again, very similar to the Corbijn film.

Again I'm reminded of another film, Nicholas Ray's ON DANGEROUS GROUND , in which a detective who has become brutal and excessive, is reassigned to a rural murder case, becomes infatuated with a woman there and is relieved of some of his stress. Also I have an record by the rock band Porcupine Tree named 'Stupid Dream' in which one of the songs, 'Even Less', has a sample of these number strings being intoned. My guess is that it's a parody. I always wondered what they were.

I won't try and stretch your credulity by saying this is a must see movie. You could give it a miss and your life will be just the same as if you saw it. However... It really isn't a bad little flick if you can get past the misleading posters, etc. They say "Action Movie" and the reality is that it is a character piece. A definite case of poor marketing.

John Cusack plays a burnt out CIA black ops guy that is assigned to watch over Malin Akerman after screwing up a job. The movie is more about him confronting his demons than about fighting off some nameless terrorist types. He does a decent and believable job.

Malin Akerman's character is somewhat under-developed. Her acting wasn't terrible, I just think the role could have been better written. I just couldn't seem to care all that much about whether she lived through it.

The one really jarring note was the location. It is supposed to be a remote secret base, but they used one of the many former air bases scattered through England as the setting. The thing is none of those bases are all that remote and it is a large complex with bunkers and electric gates and crap like that which kind of sticks out like a sore thumb. They would have done better to set it on an island off Scotland or something.

Over all it was worth seeing but it's better to rent than to buy.

"The Numbers Station" is another one of those quiet movies with an uninteresting title that wallow in obscurity, undeservedly.

"The Numbers Station" refers to a remote un-mapped location where secret encoders broadcast missions in highly secret numeric ciphers. After a flubbed mission and a severe attack of conscience, hit man Emerson (John Cusack) gets reassigned to provide security to Katherine (Malin Ackerman), one such code broadcaster. One day, their base gets compromised and Emerson and Katherine to promptly contain the problem before the false codes achieve their misguided missions.

John Cusack plays the cool-as-nails but conscience-stricken Emerson very well, both in the action scenes and the quiet scenes. His character is the heart of the film and he carried the role with dignity. Malin Ackerson did well as the traditional damsel in distress, but to her credit, her character did not just sit there waiting for things to happen.

I liked the tight and exciting pace of the story told within the limited confines of the numbers station. The emotional story within the heart of a supposedly unemotional killer was also well-told. This suspenseful and thoughtful film is recommended for viewers who like a neat claustrophobic thriller.

Emerson Kent (John Cusack) and his superior Michael Grey (Liam Cunningham) are American secret agents sent to kill in New Jersey. Grey kills a young girl which leaves Kent struggling with the morality. Grey assigns him to a bland job to protect code operator Katherine (Malin Akerman) in a number station near Suffork, England. They are one of three two-men teams that maintain the station around the clock. One morning, they arrive and are attacked by mysterious gunmen. They get into the station to find the previous team had been forced to transmit instructions for 15 unauthorized missions and then killed. Kent calls for extraction but is told to kill Katherine to save the secrets.

This has too many questionable events to be a realistic spy thriller. There are lots of gun fights and action scenes to try to keep the interest. It's a lot of fighting in an underground bunker. It doesn't succeed in creating thrills. The cat-and-mouse game is not that well thought out and not that compelling. It may be necessary to do some minor exposition on what the station does and where that phone connects. This movie has some good actors but it's too bare bones.

7.6 of 10. Fast moving film that says a lot about intelligence operations and the mental state of the operatives, why they do what they do, and the risks/prices they pay.

In these, it's easy to get hung up in details of is it real or is this done exactly like that, or is the cryptography accurately handled. For the most part, this successfully portrays the details. Are there actually numbers stations? That's not the question to ask. Are there secret communications operations? Yes. Once you get past that, most people already know and accept there are secret killings, so you can simply enjoy the story (except for the product placement, of course).

Another problem with these films is they get too caught up in the message, talking, and forget about action, thrills, and the story. This does a surprisingly good job quickly setting up the plot and keeping the pace fast (best of all, without any car chase scenes or similar gimmicks). The soundtrack/score helps too.

Something like a simplified, but not dumbed down, Bourne Identity film.