Today’s Prayer Focus

Closed Circuit

MPA Rating: R-Rating (MPA) for language and brief violence.
Moral Rating: not reviewed
Moviemaking Quality:
Primary Audience: Adults
Genre: Crime Mystery Thriller Drama
Length: 1 hr. 36 min.
Year of Release: 2013
USA Release: August 28, 2013 (wide—800+ theaters)
DVD: January 7, 2014
Copyright, Focus Featuresclick photos to ENLARGE Copyright, Focus Features Copyright, Focus Features Copyright, Focus Features Copyright, Focus Features Copyright, Focus Features Copyright, Focus Features Copyright, Focus Features Copyright, Focus Features Copyright, Focus Features
Relevant Issues
Copyright, Focus Features

lack of privacy from government surveillance

terrorism

use of secret government classified evidence in prosecution

Featuring Eric BanaMartin Rose
Rebecca HallClaudia Simmons-Howe
Ciarán HindsDevlin
Jim BroadbentAttorney General
Julia StilesJoanna Reece
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Director John Crowley
Producer Focus Features
Working Title Films
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Distributor
Distributor: Focus Features. Trademark logo.
Focus Features
, a subsidiary of Universal Pictures, a division of NBCUniversal/Comcast

“They see your every move.”

Here’s what the distributor says about their film: “One morning, a busy London market is decimated by an explosion. In the manhunt that follows, only one member of the suspected terrorist cell survives: Farroukh Erdogan (Denis Moschitto), who is arrested and jailed. Preparations begin for what promises to be the trial of the century.

But there’s a hitch: the government will use classified evidence to prosecute Erdogan, evidence so secret that neither he nor his lawyers can be allowed to see it. Hence the need for the Attorney General (Academy Award winner Jim Broadbent) to appoint a Special Advocate, an additional government-approved defense lawyer (Claudia Simmons-Howe, played by Golden Globe Award nominee Rebecca Hall), one who has clearance to see classified evidence and who can argue for its full disclosure when the trial moves to “closed” session. The rules for the Special Advocate are clear: once the secret evidence is shared with her, Claudia will not be allowed to communicate even with the defendant or with other members of the defense team.

But just as the case is on the eve of going to trial, Erdogan’s lawyer dies suddenly, and a new defense attorney, Martin Rose (Eric Bana), quickly steps in. Martin is tenacious, driven, brilliant ‑ and an ex-lover of Claudia’s. The two lawyers make an uncomfortable pact to keep their former affair hidden. But as Martin begins to piece the case together, the outlines of a sinister conspiracy emerge, one that will draw him and Claudia dangerously close again.

A Focus Features presentation of a Working Title production. Eric Bana, Rebecca Hall. Closed Circuit. Ciårán Hinds, Riz Ahmed, Anne-Marie Duff, Kenneth Cranham, Denis Moschitto. With Julia Stiles and Jim Broadbent. Casting by Fiona Weir. Music by Joby Talbot. Make-up and Hair Designer, Daniel Phillips. Costume Designer, Natalie Ward. Editor, Lucia Zucchetti. Production Designer, Jim Clay. Director of Photography, Adriano Goldman. Co-Producer, Mairi Bett. Executive Producers, Tim Owen, Liza Chasin, Amelia Granger. Screenplay by Steve Knight. Produced by Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Chris Clark. Directed by John Crowley. A Focus Features Release.”

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See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.


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Movie Critics
…It's a compelling conspiracy thriller that grabs our attention from the first reel and keeps viewers on edge with its engaging performances and timely story. …
Claudia Puig, USA Today
…This smarter-than-usual thriller manages to be righteously indignant even as its heroes break the rules. …
Peter Debruge, Variety
…falls short of gripping, thought-provoking…
Mathew DeKinder, Saint Louis Today
…A timely but hopelessly generic thriller… It’s filmed with a sharp eye and filled with good performances. … [2½/4]
Connie Ogle, Miami Herald
…The here-and-now relevance of “Closed Circuit” cannot be disputed. …a credible script… [3/4]
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer
…The film is handsomely made… Well-acted British courtroom drama never really delivers the necessary thrills…
Stephen Farber, The Hollywood Reporter
… a slick, tasty slice of late-summer nonsense from Britain, comes soaked in gunmetal blue and paranoia…
Manohla Dargis, The New York Times
…uninspired script and direction…
Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News

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