About 15 - 20 minutes in, I was very close to giving up on this. I'm glad I didn't. It's no masterpiece, but what you'll get is a very authentic, at times claustrophobic and thoroughly convincing thriller.
This is a *british* production, and it shows. There are very few Hollywood stereotypes here, just a believable story that avoids most of the action blockbuster clichés and that actually manages to keep you on the edge of your seat as soon as the "situation" starts. There's an obvious reason why it seems a bit slow in the beginning, and the impact is all the more effective when it hits.
I was slightly worried that Cusack might be miscast in this (that happens frequently with him, I find), but he's actually quite convincing as the suddenly conscience-ridden sociopath assassin he plays.
All in all I'm pretty sure this will be both too low-key and a bit slow in the build-up for younger audiences, but it's certainly one of the more intense thrillers I've seen in a while. Mostly, I realize now, because they manage through a thorough build-up, an authentic frame and good acting to actually make me care about what happens to the lead characters. And that's increasingly rare in movies these days, I think.
This is a *british* production, and it shows. There are very few Hollywood stereotypes here, just a believable story that avoids most of the action blockbuster clichés and that actually manages to keep you on the edge of your seat as soon as the "situation" starts. There's an obvious reason why it seems a bit slow in the beginning, and the impact is all the more effective when it hits.
I was slightly worried that Cusack might be miscast in this (that happens frequently with him, I find), but he's actually quite convincing as the suddenly conscience-ridden sociopath assassin he plays.
All in all I'm pretty sure this will be both too low-key and a bit slow in the build-up for younger audiences, but it's certainly one of the more intense thrillers I've seen in a while. Mostly, I realize now, because they manage through a thorough build-up, an authentic frame and good acting to actually make me care about what happens to the lead characters. And that's increasingly rare in movies these days, I think.