Rated
R (Language and Some Violence)
Running
Time: 2 Hours & 8 Minutes
Cast-
Benedict
Cumberbatch-Julian Assange
Daniel
Brühl-Daniel Domscheit-Berg
Alicia
Vikander-Anke Domscheit-Berg
Carice
van Houten-Birgitta Jónsdóttir
Moritz
Bleibtreu-Marcus
Laura
Linney-Sarah Shaw
Stanley
Tucci-James Boswell
Anthony
Mackie-Sam Coulson
David
Thewlis-Nick Davies
Dan
Stevens-Ian Katz
Peter
Capaldi-Alan Rusbridger
Alexander
Siddig-Dr. Tarek Haliseh
Directed
by Bill Condon
 |
| Benedict Cumberbath and Daniel Brühl try their best but Bill Condon's "The Fifth Estate" is a mediocre account about the rise and fall of WikiLeaks. |
Note: At AMC Empire 25.
Julian
Assange: narcissistic egomaniac, security threat, or media savior? This is the
central question that director Bill Condon asks in his latest film, "The
Fifth Estate," but it's one that he fails to satisfactorily answer. Although
the story of WikiLeaks and its eccentric founder is certainly a fascinating
one, it seems somewhat premature to tell it now because it's still unfolding and
the long-range ramifications of the website's actions remain to be seen. Since releasing
the Afghan and Iraq War Logs three years ago, Assange has found himself holed up
in a single office room at the Ecuadorian embassy in London due to allegations
of sexual misconduct while whistleblower Chelsea Manning (née Bradley) was
recently sentenced to thirty-five years in prison for leaking the documents in
the first place. WikiLeaks has continued to release classified material to the public
but hasn't received much coverage in the mainstream media as of late, with its
spotlight currently stolen by another whistleblower, former NSA system administrator
Edward Snowden. Written by Josh Singer (whose previous credits include
television shows like "The West Wing" and "Fringe") and based
on Daniel Domscheit-Berg's 2011 book Inside
WikiLeaks: My Time with Julian Assange and the World's Most Dangerous Website,
as well as David Leigh and Luke Harding's WikiLeaks:
Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy, Condon chronicles the website's rapid
rise and fall from 2007 to 2010, fashioning the story as a high-tech thriller but
the material he covers here fails to drum up much excitement. While the film raises
many interesting questions regarding WikiLeaks and its place in the media,
"The Fifth Estate" fails to offer much insight about its subject matter.
Despite the best efforts of Benedict Cumberbatch and Daniel Brühl, Condon's latest
is just too dull and muddled to make the impact it wants.
While
attending the Chaos Computer Club's annual conference in Berlin, Germany in late-2007,
tech drone Daniel Domscheit-Berg (Daniel Brühl) crosses paths with Julian Assange
(Benedict Cumberbatch), who had recently founded a new website one year prior called
' WikiLeaks.' Designed to receive and broadcast sensitive information from governments
and other high-profile organizations, the site works hard in protecting the anonymity
of its sources. Daniel's interest in online activism led him to initially reach
out to Assange via email and he quickly becomes swept up by the Australian-born
hacker's charisma and his idealism regarding free speech and transparency.
Believing himself to be part of a large network of volunteers, Daniel disappointingly
learns that Assange has been working solo since the website's inception. WikiLeaks'
reputation begins to rise when the two discover in February 2008 that the Cayman
Islands branch of Swiss bank Julius Baer has been engaging in illegal activities.
The site is suspended when the bank obtains an injunction but this proves to be
only a temporary setback as the judge dissolves it a month later. In 2010, WikiLeaks
receives thousands of classified military documents related to the war in Afghanistan
and Iraq, as well as a number of diplomatic cables from the United States.
However, Assange's refusal to redact any of the information that might put
lives and nations at risk strains his friendship with Daniel, who has become
increasingly disillusioned with the way the site is being handled. Meanwhile,
U.S. government officials Sarah Shaw (Laura Linney), James Boswell (Stanley Tucci),
and Sam Coulson (Anthony Mackie) scramble to perform damage control in the wake
of the leak, which puts one of their sources, Dr. Tarek Haliseh (Alexander Siddig)
from Lebanon, in danger.
The
first sign of trouble in Bill Condon's "The Fifth Estate" is the opening
credits sequence. Created by a digital design company called 'Prologue,' it covers
the entire history of news media, from Paleolithic cave paintings to the ubiquity
of the internet, in just under two minutes. It's definitely a unique way to begin
your film but the execution leaves much to be desired as it gives the picture a
made-for-television vibe, especially when paired with Carter Burwell's derivative
score. Condon follows the main titles by initially flash-forwarding the action
to July 2010, where The New York Times,
The Guardian, and Der Spiegel simultaneously publish WikiLeaks'
Afghan War Logs: over 90,000 classified U.S. military documents about the war
in Afghanistan from 2004 to 2009. Regarded as one of the largest leaks in United
States military history, WikiLeaks' fame (or infamy, depending on your point of
view) was at an all-time high at this point but back in 2007, it was still just
a one-man crew struggling to make a name for itself. This changes when ace programmer
Daniel Domscheit-Berg becomes the fledgling website's first volunteer after falling
under the charismatic spell of Julian Assange at a computer conference in
Berlin. Since Singer draws extensively from Berg's 2011 book, he's the main character.
Unfortunately, he's not a very interesting one and filtering the story through
his eyes proves to be an issue as it lends the events depicted in the film a
certain bias. To fix this, Condon and Singer try to go for an even-handed approach
but all it does is muddle things further, resulting in an unfocused, flip-flopping
presentation of Assange. One minute he's an idealistic visionary and the next
he's an egotistical megalomaniac. There are glimmers of the 'real' Assange but
the fleeting references to his childhood in an eccentric cult and his estranged
relationship with his son (ironically named Daniel as well) fail to provide much
in the way of insight. He remains a frustrating enigma and frankly, reading the
man's Wikipedia page would probably prove to be more informative.
The
lack of emotional investment in the characters isn't the only problem that "The
Fifth Estate" suffers from. For some strange reason, Condon has chosen to
tell Singer's story as a thriller but there's nothing especially 'thrilling' about
the material, at least not in the conventional sense. Backed by Burwell's generic
techno score (which sounds like it was ripped off from "The Social Network"),
the director tries to amp up the action with flashy location title cards and a
visual motif of a giant office room (curiously covered in snow) where an
infinite number of Assanges hammer away on keyboards in order to expose the world's
dirtiest secrets yet all of it comes across as too gimmicky and is downright distracting
at times. This sprawling room also represents the website's submission platform,
which Berg is forced to shut down late in the film when Assange begins behaving
in a reckless manner in regards to the release of the Afghan and Iraq War Logs.
To make this moment appear more 'dramatic,' Condon cuts to Berg trashing the imagined
office but you're unable to take the scene seriously because it looks like a bratty
child throwing a temper tantrum. There are also frequent montages of the characters
traveling from one European city to the next and while this is all sleekly photographed
by cinematographer Tobias A. Schliessler, it doesn't amount to much besides
showing off how nice Belgium or Iceland looks.
What
was supposedly about the rise and fall of WikiLeaks, as seen through the eyes
of Berg and his friendship with Assange, becomes a cluttered mess by the end.
There are no less than three subplots competing for our attention yet only one
of them works within the context of the film. The other two involve a trio of
U.S. government officials worrying about the dangers that the leak poses and
try to perform damage control while a source based in Lebanon waits to be extradited
but whenever the camera focuses on these characters, it feels like you're watching
a completely different movie. Condon and Singer raise many interesting questions.
How has WikiLeaks changed the way people consume news? Is WikiLeaks the force
of good it purports to be or is it all the product of a raving narcissist who just
wants his fifteen minutes of fame? Good luck finding any answers because
"The Fifth Estate" literally closes with Assange telling the audience
to figure it out themselves.
The
film's sole saving grace is the performances. Benedict Cumberbatch is fantastic
as Julian Assange. It's not just the white hair and the Australian accent; the
British actor really captures the man in all its facets: his charisma, his idealism,
his paranoia, and especially his inflated self-important ego. However, it's
still only a skin-deep portrayal and whenever Cumberbatch tries to delve deeper
into Assange and explore what makes him tic, the story pulls the actor back. Daniel
Brühl, fresh off his extraordinary performance in Ron Howard's "Rush,"
continues to impress, ably carrying the film on his shoulders despite the lack
of depth afforded to his character. The two are supported by a stellar cast that
unfortunately is given little to do. Alicia Vikander's Anke mostly spends her
time complaining about Berg putting his work on the site ahead of her while Laura
Linney, Stanley Tucci, and Anthony Mackie try to lend the film some gravitas in
their one-note roles as U.S. government officials. Carice van Houten, Peter
Capaldi (the new Doctor Who), and Alexander Siddig have what amounts to
glorified cameos. David Thewlis, who plays freelance Guardian reporter Nick Davies, gets to give a speech about the
importance of the press at the end but it's a little too on the nose, especially
when he dramatically pauses to mention the film's title.
Released
on October 18, 2013, "The Fifth Estate" has received largely negative
reviews with 38% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics found the film 'heavy on detail
and melodrama but missing the spark from its remarkable real-life inspiration.'
However, they did praise Benedict Cumberbatch's performance in spite of
Condon's picture serving 'as a middling showcase for [his]…talent. One person
who has been particularly vocal about his displeasure with the film is Julian
Assange himself. The WikiLeaks founder even tried to persuade Cumberbatch to
leave the project in a letter he wrote back in January, which you can read here.
His reaction isn't surprising considering the source material presents him in
an unflattering light. He predicted that the film was going to fail and he was
right: "The Fifth Estate" bombed with a pathetic weekend debut of
$1.67 million, a 2013 worst for a feature playing in more than 1500 theaters. It'll
barely make $10 million at this point. Hell, some audience members were loudly
snoring while the film played! With the exception of Benedict Cumberbatch and Daniel
Brühl, "The Fifth Estate" is a misfire all around. Its episodic
structure is as informative as a Wikipedia page and Condon's choice to fashion
it as a thriller ends up doing more harm than good. Yea, maybe we are better
off seeking 'the truth' by ourselves.
Final
Rating: 2 out of 5
"You
want to know the truth? No one is going to tell you the whole truth. They'll
only tell you their version. You want the truth; you have to seek it out for
yourself. That's where real power lies, your willingness to look past this
story, any story. As long as you keep searching, you are dangerous to them.
That's what they are afraid of…YOU. It is all about you."
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