Jan Wahl Movie Reivew: 'The Fifth Estate'
(KCBS) — KCBS Entertainment Editor Jan Wahl reviews "The Fifth Estate", an exploration of the website WikiLeaks, and its eccentric founder, Julian Assange (Benedict Cumberbatch).
KCBS Entertainment Reporter Jan Wahl:
Jan Wahl Movie Review: The Fifth Estate (R)
THE FIFTH ESTATE (R) 128 min
The story of Wikileaks and Julian Assange could have been a fascinating, or, at least, compelling viewing. Add a actor of depth and talent like Benedict Cumberbatch, a fine director like Bill Condon ('Kinsey' and 'Gods and Monsters') and this story about Assange's idea of exposing government and corporate secrets while keeping everything top secret, and the public curiosity of all of it—how could it miss? But it does and by a mile.
It takes too long to connect us to what is going on. Trendy visuals like handheld cameras, zooming edits and a lack of narrative take us out of the action. It runs in place. It's an important true story, but it gets lost. The veil of secrecy remains closed.
One hat.
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You can hear KCBS Entertainment Editor Jan Wahl's movie reviews on KCBS All News 740AM and 106.9FM Fridays at 8:53am & 4:53pm.
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