THE FIFTH ESTATE (4 out of 10) – Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Daniel Bruhl, Anthony Mackie, Alicia Vikander, David Thewlis; rated R (language and some violence); in general release; running time: 128 minutes.
Mainstream cinema has rarely, if ever, given audiences any credit for being smart or clever. That bit of cinematic smugness has only gotten worse over the years, and these days, big-budget movies often feel the need to over explain their concept and plotting to the point of overkill.
Even smaller-budgeted features aren’t immune to this affliction, though. “The Fifth Estate,” a new dramatic thriller, purports to adapt a pair of nonfiction best-sellers: “Inside WikiLeaks,” which was written by one of the particulars, Daniel Domscheit-Berg, and “WikiLeaks,” by David Leigh and Duke Harding. But by the time the movie is over, you may feel as if the filmmakers used copies of those tomes in an ill-fated attempt to smack some sense into you.
More’s the pity, too. This really is material that deserves the big-screen treatment, and the story deserves to be seen and heard by more than just newsjunkies and the NPR crowd. But “The Fifth Estate” is bungled majorly by director Bill Condon, whose career has really nose-dived in recent years. (After impressing a lot of us with the features “Gods and Monsters” and “Kinsey,” he went on to direct the final and arguably two worst films in the supposed Twilight “Saga.”)
Under Condon’s overly busy and often-unsubtle direction, the film becomes a talky, at-times boring film that’s practically a celluloid “lecture,” one that uses expository dialogue to explain scenes in a surprisingly heavy-handed and patronizing fashion. (The script is courtesy screenwriter Josh Singer, a TV producer who’s worked extensively with Aaron Sorkin. Translate that to mean you should expect some lengthy conversation sequences.)
So if there’s a reason to see the film, aside from perverse curiosity about the subject matter, it’s to see yet another show-stopping performance by British actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who’s having a real breakout year. (He stole most of the movie as the villain in this summer’s “Star Trek Into Darkness” and he will be heard as the voice of the major villain in December’s “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.”)
Cumberbatch stars as Julian Assange, the charismatic but somewhat shadowy face of WikiLeaks, which gotten into major legal and other trouble after supposed acts of “treason” by helping leak classified U.S. government and military documents onto the Internet. This version of events profiles Assange mostly, showing how he was eventually forced in hiding, as well as tracing back to his efforts to start WikiLeaks with another so-called “informational activist,” Daniel Domscheit-Berg (Daniel Bruhl).
Condon and Singer attempt to flesh out the story, but in spectacularly wrong-headed fashion they choose to throw in other characters and situations that don’t register and simply pad out an already-too-long movie. (Side characters played by Stanley Tucci and Laura Linney, while amusing, are completely unnecessary.)
Also, Bruhl, who really impressed in earlier, foreign-language films and, most recently, as racer Niki Lauda in Ron Howard’s “Rush,” seems a little off here — as if he’s deferring to Cumberbatch. Of course, it isn’t as if the filmmakers were really interested in telling Domscheit-Berg’s story. It’s there to augment that of Assange, who is played splendidly by Cumberbatch and who actually nails his character’s tricky accent perfectly.
Again, Benedict is the film’s big draw, aside from an appearance by the next Doctor, Peter Capaldi, in a role as Alan Rusbridger, the editor of the British newspaper The Guardian. Otherwise, you’re better off skipping “The Fifth Estate” altogether. (If you’re really dying to see a feature film about WikiLeaks, you’d be better off seeking out “We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks,” even though Alex Gibney’s documentary fails to get an Assange interview.)
Jerk-bot, aka Jeff Michael Vice, can also be heard reviewing films, television programs, comics, books, music and other things as part of The Geek Show Podcast, and can be seen reviewing films as part of Xfinity’s Big Movie Mouth-Off.