The Numbers Station

Plot synopsis:
CIA operative Emerson Kent is sent to kill a man who owns a bar. Before being killed by Kent, the man reveals he is a former agent who wanted to retire. A witness flees the scene, accidentally leaving his wallet behind. Kent finds the wallet and tracks the witness to his home, where he kills him. Kent spares the life of the man's daughter, Rachel, who follows him outside, hysterical. As Kent tries to convince his boss, Michael Grey, not to kill her, Grey strikes Kent on the back and he falls to the ground. Kent and Rachel share a last look at each other as Grey kills her. Kent is transferred to Suffolk, England to watch over a numbers station. While there, he befriends Katherine, the station broadcaster, and is haunted by memories of the woman who was killed. When the numbers station comes under attack, Kent and Katherine barricade themselves inside. One assassin is already inside the secure station and, after a lengthy shootout, is killed by Kent.
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 can't cancel the broadcasts. Kent says that the assassinations would leave the intelligence world crippled and the world unrecognizable.
Kent tricks the telephone operator by giving him a false confirmation code, proving he isn't 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 to 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 realize that the driver is the telephone operator. When Kent asks him who he works for, the operator replies that he used to work for the same people that 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 attempts to drive away, only to fall unconscious from shock and crash. Kent wakes in a 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, implying that Kent and Katherine escaped.

Tags: suspenseful, murder, violence, flashback, claustrophobic, revenge

Review:
A definite case of poor marketing.John Cusack plays a burnt out CIA black ops guy that is assigned to watch over Malin Akerman after screwing up a job.
Yes. Once you get past that, most people already know and accept there are secret killings, so you can simply enjoy the story (except for the product placement, of course).Another problem with these films is they get too caught up in the message, talking, and forget about action, thrills, and the story.
After a flubbed mission and a severe attack of conscience, hit man Emerson (John Cusack) gets reassigned to provide security to Katherine (Malin Ackerman), one such code broadcaster.
One day, their base gets compromised and Emerson and Katherine to promptly contain the problem before the false codes achieve their misguided missions.John Cusack plays the cool-as-nails but conscience-stricken Emerson very well, both in the action scenes and the quiet scenes.
Emerson Kent (John Cusack) and his superior Michael Grey (Liam Cunningham) are American secret agents sent to kill in New Jersey.
Grey assigns him to a bland job to protect code operator Katherine (Malin Akerman) in a number station near Suffork, England.
the background of John Cusack's character was well revealed, so we can better understand his motives and feelings during the unfolding action, the female character was somewhat underdeveloped i think, not that it impacts the story much, but we could have gotten some flashbacks on how she ended up in the station as well, not only in words - but thats all minor mumblingsalthough it may seem to some as a 'B' rated movie - it is a much, much better than that, you can easily tell that much effort has been put in this movie by a serious team7/10.
Very different results to the stories, however.THE NUMBERS STATION is definitely the more dark of the 2 films, filmed in the English country side, and in a forbidding fortress like facility in which codes in the form of 4 digit strings are broadcast relaying instructions to field espionage personnel and military units.
Going on John Cusack's recent venture into silly, inconsequential direct to video thrillers without depth or heft, I expected a mind numbing cash grab with his moniker shamelessly plastered in pre title billing.
I only watched it for a couple of actors I really enjoy, and what I got was thoroughly fun, slow burning spy thriller that took its time, built the characters and focused on mood and story instead of just action filler.
During and after the Cold War, Numerous 'Numbers Stations' were planted all over Europe, facilities where operatives would reside, broadcasting codes in the form of random sequences of digits, all over the region to various agents, who would read them, and carry out the orders embedded within.
Cusack's plays a disgraced agent who is assigned to accompany a coder (Malin Ackerman) to a remote station, and protect her and the premises.
The irony is not lost on me that I'm about to, with this review, do away with the very blindness that served my particular viewing experience but as they say the show must go on.The elements warranting a peak in The Numbers Station generally stem from three areas: the performance of John Cusack as a world-weary hit-man, that of the lovely Malin Akerman as a chipper civilian analyst and the gloomy aesthetics of the number station where the film takes place (and where it draws its name).
Even the exterior of the station looks like a graveyard.Likewise, the performances from these two leads is deserving of some level of praise even when the writing that shapes these characters is superficial to say the least (and I won't even go into the further mounting conventions associated with an assassin questioning his morals).
Especially when a good portion of the running time is dedicated to the interaction between these two refugees, we should get something meatier than Emerson breaking out your standard-order, dossier-brand psychoanalysis.But I digress, as Cusack in particular surprised me simply because he wasn't on autopilot and at some turns even emoted more than the material demanded him too.
While she in particular may exude a tad too much zest and isn't given much to do in the way of ass-kicking, her glowing presence is welcome nevertheless.It's somewhat unfortunate that the welcome elements swirl amongst mediocre writing and pacing issues more times than can be overlooked, but some slick kills and the aforementioned avoidance of over-the-top genre tropes still makes The Numbers Station better than your average bargain bin thriller.6.5/10.
"You keep the station safe, the code safe, whatever it takes." After Emerson (Cusack) has a problem during a routine assignment he is reassigned to a safe house type area making sure secret codes are transmitted out to the government properly.
The term 'disgraced black ops person' as that applies to John Cusack's character has about as much meaning as a poem from Pol Pot. I have never seen the world of clandestine operations depicted in quite this way before.
The numbers Station is a high tension film.But it is difficult to understand something,or I don't understand something.Firstly,there are some secret agents(or something like that) who kills somebody without any mercy.And of course they have some missions to do as you guess.I will not tell what's happening at the movie,you know what happens if you watched it.But film is not showing us who are these agents?Which country are they work for?Who are the enemies of them?You just see the what happens at the moment.For me,I don't understand the movie.But anyway it was some enjoyable to watch this movie.So I gave six to this movie..
Truth be told, I am very surprised that Barfoes's debut is such a lukewarm concept since Kandidaten did well, got picked up for a remake and Barfoed himself was attached to a handful of projects.The Numbers Station shares not only the plot with Safe House but also Liam Cunningham in a role of a seasoned professional spy.
It's always enjoyable to see John Cusack in the role of a burned-out something, and he steps right up to the plate here.Some of the reviewers have pointed out that the location (and this is basically a single-location film) seemed unlikely.
I got that feeling because of the way the movie is filmed and how skilfully the director managed to build suspense in a movie which in it's core has a truly simple storyline and activity throughout.I say this because when i watch immensely funded blockbuster with millions of USD budget, and I feel like i've just been watching 3 action packed scenes and it all lasted a total of five minutes.This is an engaging movie, with a solid cast giving a rigid and thorough performance.
It's Cusack's own internal struggle to do his job or do what is right that is the villain/hero of the movie.I give the film a 6/10.
The numbers station is a suspenseful action movie with real and believable characters and a very interesting plot.
And this was a hard blow to the movie, which dragged it down.And while both John Cusack and Malin Åkerman performed quite well, then they just had very little to work with in regards of script and direction from Kasper Barfoed.
Liam Cunningham also did a good job acting in this movie, as he always does.The plot in "The Numbers Station" had an adequately enough foundation, it just never took hold.
But director Kasper Barfoed swung wide and missed even wider with this movie.If you enjoy thrillers then there are far, far better thrillers available, and "The Numbers Station" is worth your time only if you are a fan of John Cusack or Malin Åkerman.
Former field agent Emerson (John Cusack) is reassigned to a Numbers Station due to a botched field assignment and it is hoped that he will resolve his demons in this new assignment.
John Cusack's Emerson character does a very good job selling the importance of a Numbers Station.
John Cusack manages to play the lead role in a movie that seems to be a cross between 1408 and Grosse Pointe Blank.
Malin Akerman manages to be the nondescript blonde girl.The core of the story is that there are secret stations that broadcast instructions for field agents using some numbers.
John Cusack is a terrific actor and he proves it once again in The Numbers Station.
Emerson (John Cusack) was one of those agents, until his conscience caught up with him, and he is assigned to guard the station, a quiet, lonely job, until terrorists break in, and he is the last line of defense.
A movie like this, with a small cast in a secluded location, only works if the stars of the film can keep you're attention and make the story believable, and both Cusack and Malin Akerman both do a terrific job of it.
This movie is more about the intensity of the situation and the reaction of the people involved than it is about killing bad guys, and that is why Cusack was perfect choice for the lead in this film.
Most action films are more about big explosions and special effects, the story is secondary, but in The Numbers Station, things are reversed and that's why I liked it so much.
The Numbers Station: A cryptographer (Malin Akerman) and her CIA bodyguard (John Cusack) arrive at a communications facility in England for a shift change but find no trace of their colleagues.
(This is not a plot twist reveal, it all happens in the opening sequence.)Most of the action takes place in the underground station and this is where the film gains its strength with the developing relationship between Akerman and Cusack.
With mysterious but an awesomely ethereal original score by Paul Leonard-Morgan, this Kasper Barfoed directed espionage movie starring John Cusack seems more like an independent character-driven psychological thriller drama that spends more time in a brooding ambiance of foreboding terror and a sense of loss of control much like what Signourney Weaver's character as Ripley experienced in Alien (1979) and suggestive eerie and dark, sadistic ambiance of the classic thriller Wait Until Dark (1967) with Audrey Hepburn.
Cusack's singular performance in the horror movie 1408 (2007) likely offered a number of resonating psychological themes that could be related back to this movie.There's a little backstory offered in this movie but the script plays out well without having to known everything about these characters as it comes done more to just survival.
John Cusack is not an action hero: The Numbers Station.
This is a classic action movie somewhere in the middle of an unholy "bond", "die hard" and "taken" trinity.Malin Åkerman makes an impressive acting performance in every way, incluing an extremely convincing "being knocked out"-scene.
This Little Film Does that Quite Well.It is a Dimly Lit World of Computer Screen Glow Through Maze Like Corridors with Heavy Key-Punch Doors and the Natural Light of Day is Absent in More Ways Than One. This is a Suspenseful Character Study and John Cusack and Malin Akerman are Believable in the Tightly Choreographed Story.Although the Ending is a Bit Mysterious, there is Enough Action and Intrigue to Satisfy Fans and the Dark Tone is Welcome in This Big Brother Scenario that Comes at the Right Moment in Time and is Well Worth a Watch..
The whole movie was filmed in a type of industrial estate, which is supposed to be the numbers station, and you don't really get time to know the characters because it just gets straight on with it from the beginning.
It starts of quite intriguing but it ended up being disappointing.Round-Up: Isn't John Cusack getting a bit old to be running around shooting and beating up people?
John Cusack stars in "The Numbers Station," costarring Malin Akerman.
Directed by Kasper Barfoed, it was filmed in England.Cusack plays Emerson Kent, a black ops agent.
Everyone else, including the Akerman character, isn't well developed.This comes off like a small movie, the kind you don't need to see in a theater.
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.
So I have about 20+hrs of reaserch and videos on NS than the everage person and the fact that I knew what NS are and the mysteries around them, made me want to watch this movie even more.) I imagine that the average Joe might go as far as to think NS aren't even a real thing the way the beginning was presented (cool intro/music video but during that time more infomation giving text and video can be played).
The movie would make a bigger impact as to how serious this spy stuff is, though watching Cusack work in the field, kinda made things pretty clear :)It would be crazy cool to see an oldschool like 1960's agent taking on new orders from his radio and carry out an important task linked to US history (think Kennedy assassination type event) then hit with the "The NS are still in use 'today' (part) and start the movie.
A consequence of this attack causes John to question his role in the US security organisation he works for and to help him make up his mind he is sent to deepest darkest Suffolk to look after an isolated broadcast station for the numbers which equate to field agent assignments.Now I have been to Suffolk many times and it is not quite as deep and dark as the film makes out and is not quite as isolated either as rather a lot of people would notice this ultra secret installation.
Though obviously not in Suffolk which is deep and dark and an ideal place to hide US skulduggery.The shift he looks after comes back and finds the station under attack and that's where the film dives for the ditch and we get a bog standard so called thriller that makes little sense and whose plot is rather ridiculous.
The acting is really awesome, especially John Cusack, Malin Akerman and Liam Cunningham.
If not for the everlastingly bad decision making of the great John Cusack, The Numbers Station would be a complete waste of time.Cusack plays an awesome assassin who, with a level of conscience, gets 'station'ed in England and needs to babysit a ditzy blonde who's good with numbers.
He knows how to 'play' the 'Hollywood game.'What's that mean?He understands that - in order to do the small, intelligent movies he wants to, he must make the 'big budget' to allow him to make those he wants.(I should also say that i am in the entertainment business, so i do know what i speak of).I never heard of this film - and it was in theatres only a few months ago.If you don't know - never heard of 'numbers stations,' they ARE real.
I'd guess they're people who want more action, more of the plot TOLD to us - and not interested in 'going along for the ride,' and having to use your mind.Personally, I prefer the second type - but have no prejudices against the former.The Numbers Station has John Cusack as Emerson Kenta - a CIA black ops agent who, due to a job (at the beginning of the film) going wrong - is assigned to watch over a numbers station in England, and assigned to pair with the station's broadcaster, Katherin (played by Malin Åkerman).After two months of working a monotonous job, Emerson and Katherine come under a lethal attempt on their lives.
It takes a while to get what the calling of numbers on short wave frequencies is all about, but luckily the movie does get to that.Then we have the very familiar setup and all out assault on the station and the key caller, Katherine, played by the beautiful Malin Akerman.
If you don't know what a numbers station is, then if the movie comes up on the tube, watch it; I wouldn't spend hard earned money to buy or rent it unless it's on special.
The strength of this light spy action thriller rests on their performances as they fight for survival.Cusack was more convincing in this film than he was "The Factory." The movie holds your interest as you wonder what Emerson will ultimately do, why the station was compromised and by who.
I thought both John Cusack and Malin Akerman performed their roles reasonably well enough and all things considered I figure this movie is probably good enough for a rainy day..
This formulaic secret agent thriller stars a world-weary John Cusack as a CIA field agent who finds himself relegated to the position of a watch-dog for Malin Akerman after he fails to pull the trigger on an innocent bystander during a botched hit.
Grey demotes him to watching a code operator, Katherine (Malin Anderson of "Catch .44") at a remote number's station in Suffolk, England.
You'll have to be a schmuck like me, who keeps buying Cusack's direct-to-video thrillers like "The Factory" and "The Number's Station," to waste your time on this fodder.
The problem was, the movie was actually very boring, I hated John Cusack's take on his character, and the last 10% of the film was just stupid.
The Numbers Station is a visually striking, well filmed yet simple, exciting thrill ride that shows us we don't need an over the top plot with many different and unique characters to enjoy and appreciate a great movie.
He is assigned to a Numbers Station, in which coded messages are sent to field agents, issuing them orders.