Review of The Numbers Station (2013) by Chad D — 14 Aug 2013

Redbox special. So in this universe, the way Black Ops agents get their orders is through an elaborate ever-changing code of numbers that gets sent out on radio channels. Our protagonist (John Cusack) gets demoted when he can't pull the trigger on a job, and now he has to babysit one of these number station operators (Malin Akerman), who is the one sending out these encrypted codes.

This is supposed to be a mundane, routine, boring job, but, of course, things go awry. Just typing that first sentence of the plot description made me fully realize how far stretched this premise is. This really is one of those low ambition movies that just appears out of the blue at Redbox listed as a Thriller.

John Cusack is certainly charismatic enough, and that's why you would give this movie the time of day. I do like him as an actor, and I do understand that actors have to eat too, but he is playing this so seriously and so drably for no good reason; honestly, this is a role that he could have just had fun with and relaxed, and I would have preferred it if he did.

The Numbers Station has no personality, and because of that, you walk away retaining nothing. This is a thriller that is not terribly exciting, and while it's not the worst thing in the world, it's so lukewarm that it is just negligible.