Title: The Numbers Station
Directed by: Kasper Barfoed
Starring: John Cusack, Malin Akerman
Running time: 89 minutes, Rated R, Available on DVD
Special Features: The Making of The Numbers Station
When CIA agent Emerson (Cusack) is given a kill order which he refuses, he is given a unfavorable psych eval and demoted to the task of protecting Katherine (Akerman), a woman who works as a broadcaster at the high security Numbers Station where she broadcasts a series of seemingly random numbers which spell out an ever changing code to field agents and assassins. When the security is breached, he is given the order to “retire the broadcaster,” which again he hesitates. Emerson must find a way to save the targets who have been assigned kill codes, escape the locked building, save Katherine all the while fighting off a group of rogue agents wanting to protect their initial broadcast.
The negative: Predictable. As soon as Emerson hesitates the kill within the first 10 minutes of the film, you know he’s going to do it again. The ending was really vague and bland.
The positive: Good scenes of suspense, gun fights, and explosions. John Cusack’s character and performance are a little reminiscent of Grosse Pointe Blank, which will draw in those hungry for 90’s nostalgia. Malin Akerman is the damsel in distress, but she’s intelligent and respectable. Her character doesn’t charge into the fray, but she’s also not one of those helpless, shrieking girly-girls.
The Numbers Station was simply “just okay.” Director Kasper Barfoed attempted to make the most boring job in the black ops world exciting, which was a futile task. The ending left me with a feeling of something missing to which I asked aloud, “That’s it?”
Reviewed by: JM Willis
Total Rating: C
