Amateur movie with Big budget

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Blistering performances.

(Originally reviewed: 19/02/2017) Here is a political thriller that's plain and simple forgettable; despite some good performance from a well-able cast. The film starts off rather interesting, getting the story outlined and so forth with decent direction from Rod Lurie, but even then there was some poor dialogue which I think was just unfunny and unnecessary, this line was "Eggs give you cancer", says the little boy, Schwimmer replies "I'll finish your cancer", not only is this out of context but I surely don't like jokes about serious subjects such as cancer. Before I get to my major problems with the story, I have a few nit-picks, Beckinsale is merely trying to help Farmiga but she is consistently unlikeable at first, calling Beckinsale "an unpatriotic little c**t", almost in front of her son, which I found most unnecessary. Another is that the judge is unbelievably one sided which I have rarely seen in actual, strong thrillers and even courtroom dramas, surely the judge has to be somewhat fair and not favour one client unless there is a pay-off going on which was unsurprisingly not the case. Lurie's script is also completely subpar when it's not being stupid and dull.Another howler in the dialogue is when Farmiga tells another female CIA operative "you're so lucky you're a woman, because I don't hit girls", which is more pure idiocy which doesn't land whether it was intended to be funny or not. However there are some positives; I like some of the humour, including two instances; one where Beckinsale's character is told by a female prison officer that there is no sex aloud, this includes "eating Pussy", I found this fairly amusing, as I have never heard someone actually try and use that joke in this type of situation, the other instance was when Beckinsale is being interviewed and she's confronted about her source and she has a speech that involves "because the government doesn't care where Paris Hilton had dinner last night; which put her in her place on national television and was a well-timed, amusing line.There is a couple of smart lines of dialogue, such as one where a character is told he's making a mistake and he says " sometimes a mistake is invading Russia in the winter", but there's not much in terms of these kinds of lines which is a shame. The performances are respectable for the most part, but mainly from Kate Beckinsale (Rachael, the reporter), Alan Alda (Albert, her lawyer) and Angela Bassett Bonnie, Rachael's boss), but I still think Matt Dillion (Patton, prosecutor) and Vera Farmiga (Erica, CIA operative) are also pretty good. David Schwimmer (Rachael's husband) is merely passable and his character is a first class asshole, that doesn't even bother to patiently wait for his wife, and jumps into bed with another woman as soon as she's imprisoned. There was one point where I was thinking Rachael's time in prison is at least not a cliché but later on she does end up getting beaten up, which like most films with prison sequences is predictable and tiresome. My main problems with the story are two big points, 1) Erica end's up getting shot by a guy pretending to be lost who clearly has a gun in his left hand, now wouldn't a CIA operative have more intelligence and be more cautious when under scrutiny from possible treason? The film insults the intelligence of trained operative's and the audience with it.2) The ending; so the source she was protecting was an 8 year old girl? I highly doubt the government would take action from an 8 year old, let alone kill her, so many like myself will consider the ending a waste of their time; once the ending is revealed the film is completely useless and you leave disappointed and unsatisfied. I did however find the first half or so at least intriguing, but it soon devolves into a slow paced, boring film with a forgettable plot, mediocre writing and a sexist remark thrown in to get the feminists riled up; you should find this during the but if it was a man and not a woman speech towards the third act of the film. Nothing but the Truth even pulls the character back into jail before the end credit's so we can see how it was all a pointless affair, there's plenty of clichés on offer, and that's not the main problem; the fact is, this is a poor political thriller which is forgettable, uninspiring and takes Rachael 237 days to nearly get free from, lucky her, for me it felt even longer, this picture is a waste of time.

Just seen this film for the first time.I enjoyed it very much as it progressed but was totally let down by the denouement for the same reasons which have previously been ventilated by other reviewers. I thought the performances of Beckinsale,Farmiga and Alda were superb (never been particularly impressed by Matt Dillon) as were the writing and direction and I was intending to research the actual events upon which the film is based but not now as my interest has dissipated. The ending in my opinion completely ruined the film because it makes no sense whatsoever;there was absolutely no need for the reporter to protect her "source" because she was at all times fully protected by the law in any event.I give it 5 for the acting and direction but I would never watch it again and I certainly wouldn't recommend it to anyone else.Shame.

This movie had everything. A great cast a great plot and a great soundtrack so why have I given it one star? I love these principle movies. You have to stand by what you believe in. That in itself is worth making a movie. So the movie strings you along with strong performances that really have you feeling for the character. I had read all the other reviews saying how great this was. I see their reasoning but it is flawed. Slight spoilerThe ending of this movie killed it and made no sense whatsoever. Really if the source was who it pertains to be then she would have had no problem giving out their name. End of spoiler.I can see why this movie sank without a trace at the box office.

After a Presidential assassination attempt, he orders an attack against Venezuela. Columnist Rachel Armstrong (Kate Beckinsale) writes that the President ignored CIA operative Erica Van Doren (Vera Farmiga) when ordering the attack. The media descends on Erica and her life is turned upside down. The government moves to force Rachel to name her secret source. She refuses and is jailed for contempt.Of course, it's a ripped-from-the-headlines kind of story. They make sure to say that this is fictional. Writer/director Rod Lurie does a reasonable job but this has a bit too much TV movie feel. Maybe he should have not copied so much from the headlines. There are big enough actors involved but it needs big cinematic flourishes. I won't give any spoilers, but I do love the big reveal at the end.