The Numbers Station (2013)

A disgraced black ops agent is dispatched to a remote CIA broadcast station to protect a code operator. Soon, they find themselves in a life-or-death struggle to stop a deadly plot before it's too late.

Director:

Kasper Barfoed

Writer:

F. Scott Frazier (screenplay by)

Stars:

John Cusack, Malin Akerman, Liam Cunningham

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Cusack	...	Emerson Kent
Malin Akerman	...	Katherine
Liam Cunningham	...	Grey
Richard Brake	...	Max
Bryan Dick	...	David
Finbar Lynch	...	Michaels
Lucy Griffiths	...	Meredith
Joey Ansah	...	Derne
Victor Gardener	...	Fischer
Joe Montana	...	Jeremy Fletcher
Brian Nickels	...	Bouncer (as Brian Sonny Nickels)
Randy Merchant	...	Bouncer
Hannah Murray	...	Rachel Davis
Gary Lawrence	...	Hospital Orderly
Max Bennett	...	Intern at Hospital

Storyline

When the moral values of a longtime wetwork black ops agent is tested during his last operation, he receives an unfavorable psych evaluation. Now he is given a break and a seemingly uncomplicated assignment of simply protecting the security of a young female code announcer, code resources and remote station they are assigned to. After an ambush and one phone call later, it becomes a complicated fight for their survival.

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Plot Keywords:

torture | cryptography | code | black ops | ambush | 

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Taglines:

No loose ends. That was the order.

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Genres:

Action | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Japan]

Country:

UK Belgium USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 April 2013 (USA)

Also Known As:

Código de defensa

Filming Locations:

Bentwaters Parks, Rendlesham, Suffolk, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

ContentFilm International, Echo Lake Entertainment, Piccadilly Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This motion picture's opening title card states: "Jackson, New Jersey, U.S."

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Goofs

When Katherine is in the hospital, you can plainly see her neck veins pulsing, but the heart rate monitor is beeping away at a completely different rate.

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Quotes

Katherine: What would happen if I'm not here Monday?
Emerson Kent: Because there'd been a terrible train accident?
Katherine: No, the train's here, I'm just not on it.
Emerson Kent: I would have to make a phone call.
Katherine: You would have to make a phone call?
Emerson Kent: I would make a phone call.
Katherine: Company man.

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Crazy Credits

Opening credits starts with some numbers spoken and reversed match with the names that are shown.

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Connections

Featured in Maltin on Movies: After Earth (2013)

User Reviews

bare bones thriller

Emerson Kent (John Cusack) and his superior Michael Grey (Liam Cunningham) are American secret agents sent to kill in New Jersey. Grey kills a young girl which leaves Kent struggling with the morality. Grey assigns him to a bland job to protect code operator Katherine (Malin Akerman) in a number station near Suffork, England. They are one of three two-men teams that maintain the station around the clock. One morning, they arrive and are attacked by mysterious gunmen. They get into the station to find the previous team had been forced to transmit instructions for 15 unauthorized missions and then killed. Kent calls for extraction but is told to kill Katherine to save the secrets.

This has too many questionable events to be a realistic spy thriller. There are lots of gun fights and action scenes to try to keep the interest. It's a lot of fighting in an underground bunker. It doesn't succeed in creating thrills. The cat-and-mouse game is not that well thought out and not that compelling. It may be necessary to do some minor exposition on what the station does and where that phone connects. This movie has some good actors but it's too bare bones.