The Numbers Station
| The Numbers Station | |
|---|---|
Malin Åkerman | |
| Cinematography | Óttar Guðnason |
| Edited by | Chris Gill Per Sandholt |
| Music by | Paul Leonard-Morgan |
Production companies |
|
| Distributed by | Image Entertainment (US) |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 89 minutes |
| Countries | United Kingdom United States Belgium |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $10 million |
The Numbers Station is a 2013 American
The film was directed by Danish director Kasper Barfoed, written by F. Scott Frazier and the camera work was by Icelandic cinematographer Óttar Guðnason with Production Design by Ged Clarke. It was produced by brothers Sean and Bryan Furst of American Furst Films and Nigel Thomas at British production and film finance company Matador Pictures.
Plot
Kent requests assistance, and the operator tells him help will arrive in four hours; since the code has been compromised, he must kill Katherine. Kent notices that Katherine has a serious leg wound and dresses her wound. Kent receives an update from the operator, and, when he reports that he has not killed Katherine yet, the operator orders him to do so immediately. Kent contemplates her death but ultimately decides to recruit her help in tracing fifteen unauthorized messages sent from the station. On the computer, Kent and Katherine discover dossiers of fifteen different government officials, including Grey. The unauthorized codes are instructions to assassinate the officials, and Katherine is to be eliminated so she cannot cancel the broadcasts. Kent says that the assassinations would leave the intelligence world crippled and the world unrecognizable.
Whilst listening to recordings of the previous shift, Kent and Katharine discover that the phone they used to call for help had been compromised. Kent tricks the telephone operator by giving him a false confirmation code, proving that the operator is not the real agency operator; the operator offers Kent a deal, and Kent pretends to have killed Katherine. Kent escapes to his car, where he recovers a cell phone, and then races back to protect Katherine, who has cracked the code and is broadcasting orders to cancel the previous instructions. Katherine leaves her station when she sees the assassin, but he manages to wound her before Kent kills him. Katherine insists that Kent complete the final cancellation order, and he leaves her side briefly. When he returns, he administers an anesthetic, and she asks him if she will wake. Kent reassures her that he will not kill her, but he reports her as dead to Grey. Kent spreads C4 explosives throughout the base and drops Katherine's jewelry on the floor. After he carries Katherine outside, the base explodes, destroying all evidence.
Kent hijacks a car, only to realise that the driver is the telephone operator. When Kent asks the operator for whom he works, he replies that he used to work for the same people Kent does, but he now works for the other side; they are just as twisted, but they pay better. The two shoot each other at the same time, but Kent survives and drives away. As they reach the hospital, Kent falls unconscious from shock and crashes into a car in the hospital parking lot. Kent wakes up in the hospital and discovers that Katherine is alive. Grey steps in and says that she is a liability, but Kent is able to save her life by convincing Grey that she is responsible for saving his life. Grey volunteers to find their bodies at the ruins of the station, and, as the end credits roll, cars are shown passing over the Orwell Bridge in Ipswich at night, suggesting that Kent and Katherine escaped.
Cast
- John Cusack as Emerson Kent, a disgraced CIA black ops agent who is assigned to watch over a numbers station in England
- Malin Åkermanas Katherine, a code operator at the English numbers station
- Liam Cunningham as Michael Grey, Emerson's boss
- Lucy Griffiths as Meredith, code operator on the station's other shift
- Bryan Dick as David, Meredith's CIA minder and lover
- Richard Brake as Max
- Joey Ansah as Derne
- Finbar Lynch as Michaels
- Hannah Murray as Rachel Davis, a young girl
Production
According to The Telegraph newspaper, actor Warren Clarke was one of the investors in this movie, and he "may have lost money after investing" in it, a factor which may have contributed to him being almost penniless when he died.[2]
Release
The Numbers Station premiered at the 2012 American Film Market.[3] The movie was pre-released in early April 2013 on Apple's iTunes video store and video streaming service Netflix.
Reception
References
- ^ Matador Pictures: The Numbers Station Archived 23 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2013-02-28
- ^ Sawer, Patrick (1 October 2015). "Dalziel and Pascoe star Warren Clarke died penniless" – via telegraph.co.uk.
- ^ "AFM 2012 Announces Premieres Lineup". Deadline Hollywood. 11 October 2012. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
- ^ "The Numbers Station (2013)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
- ^ "The Numbers Station". Metacritic. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
- ^ Chang, Justin (25 April 2013). "Film Review: 'The Numbers Station'". Variety. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
- ^ Catsoulis, Jeannette (25 April 2013). "Dangerous Mission in Tight Quarters". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
- ^ Abele, Robert (25 April 2013). "Review: A by-the-'Numbers' spy thriller". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
- Screen Daily. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
- ^ Wilson, Chuck (26 April 2013). "'The Numbers Station Draws Soulful Performances from John Cusack and Malin Åkerman". The Village Voice. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
