DVD Review: Official Secrets

-
What would you do for your country?

Katharine Gun works for GCHQ and leaks a top secret NSA memo exposing a joint US-UK illegal spying operation against members of the UN Security Council. The memo proposed blackmailing smaller, undecided member states into voting for war. It finds its way to reporter Martin Bright (Matt Smith) of the Observer and is published for all to see. Katharine turns herself in and is charged with breaking the Official Secrets act.

Too many people slept on this movie. This is a solid drama with an outstanding cast. I've had it on my "Must See" list all year but the reviews I did read were all mediocre at best. Sure, it might not be as exciting as other journalism/whistle blower films but Official Secrets never gives you a moment to feel bored. 

Keira Knightley is wonderful is wonderful as Katharine. I love seeing her in more modern roles since so many things she does are period pieces. I think this is up there as one of her best performances. Smith, Matthew Goode, Conleth Hill, Indira Varma, Rhys Ifan, Ralph Fiennes, and Adam Bakri make up a stellar supporting cast. 

If there's one thing I wish I had more of, it's time with the Observer staff. Their scenes were my favorite but they disappear for quite a while in the middle of the film. I understand why, it's not needed, but the actors were such a joy to watch together I wouldn't have minded if there were more of them.

If you enjoy these types of movies, please don't miss this one.

Recommended: Yes

Grade: B+

Memorable Quote: "I'm not sorry I did it, I'm sorry that I failed." - Katharine (Keira Knightley)

Comments

  1. thevoid99December 7, 2019 at 3:09 PM

    I heard about this film as I'm interested in seeing it as I think Keira Knightley is underrated depending on the film she's doing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 8, 2019 at 1:14 PM

      She really is. I think because she does so many period films that people forget that she can actually give good performances because they expect "more of the same" even though the "same" is usually pretty damn good.

      Delete
  2. The Wiggles (@TheWiggles)December 8, 2019 at 1:35 AM

    We're off to the next venue in Newcastle. #PartyTimeBigShow

    ReplyDelete
  3. Emma Watkins (@Emma_Wiggle)December 8, 2019 at 1:40 AM

    Gave Carson a hi 5.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Lachy Gillespie (@Lachy_Wiggle)December 8, 2019 at 1:43 AM

    Carson and I shook hands. Deserves the purple skivvy too :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Simon Pryce (@Simon_Wiggle)December 8, 2019 at 1:45 AM

    Fantastic review.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anthony Field (@Anthony_Wiggle)December 8, 2019 at 1:48 AM

    We love the beautiful Christmas card Carson made us.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Carson Maitland - SmithDecember 8, 2019 at 1:50 AM

    Had a bowtiful afternoon yesterday 💜

    ReplyDelete
  8. s.December 8, 2019 at 5:51 AM

    Yeah I wish we saw more of the newspaper staff too! Shame Knightley will be totally overlooked in the Awards season :(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 8, 2019 at 1:13 PM

      I know. I's ridiculous that shit like Joker gets attention when films like this don't.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Thanks for stopping by, let's talk movies!
(comments are moderated to reduce spam)

Popular posts from this blog

Random Ramblings: The Radio Flyer Conundrum

-
Image
Recently, I was talking to someone about who I thought were the best child actors when I was also a child.  Two that really stood out to me were Elijah Wood and Joseph Mazello, and one film those two were in together was called Radio Flyer.  Then I was reminded about the uniqueness of this film. Instead of reviewing the film, I wanted to have an open discussion about the ending. It deals with a tough issue; child abuse. What I’ve noticed is the way that the film ends is interpreted many different ways, and the filmmakers never came forward to say what was right and wrong. I’m interested in hearing everyone’s opinions on it. How did you interpret the ending? Obviously spoiler alerts will follow.. For those of you who haven’t seen the film, the basic premise is this: Two young boys, Mikey (Wood) and Bobby (Mazello) move in with their single mother and her boyfriend, who refers to himself as ‘The King’. It doesn’t take long for The King to start physically abusing Bobby, and the
Read more

Indie Gems: Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

-
Image
Passionate about your profession? I had never heard of this film until it ended up on one of Jason's favorite horror movie lists around Halloween. It immediately sounded interesting to me, so of course I threw it in my Netflix queue. (and if I'm just now watching it after adding it around Halloween, you know how ridiculous my queue is) Taylor (Angela Goethals) is a journalist who, along with a film crew decides to follow around a serial killer named Leslie Vernon. (Nathan Baesel) He plans on doing the typical slasher thing - getting a bunch of drunk teens in an abandoned house and knocking them off one by one. He gets advice from a retired serial killer, Eugene (Scott Wilson) and is threatened by a man who's on to him, Doc Holloran (Robert Englund) Taylor and crew are there capturing it all. Leslie Vernon is fucking hilarious to start with, and clearly very passionate about what he does. He tells Taylor all of his secrets and can barely contain his excitemen
Read more

Please join me in my Favorite Movie Titles Blogathon!

-
Image
Earlier this week I made a post where I ran through the letters of the alphabet with my favorite movie titles. There were a few people that suggested I turn it into a blogathon, and I've never done that before. So here goes nothing! Since this is my first attempt at a blogathon, it's all pretty simple, and it's hopefully a quick post that everyone can join in. Rules: 1) Going through the alphabet, list your favorite movie title beginning with each letter.  2) You don't have to necessarily  like the movie to use it's title.  3) Use the banner at the top of this post in yours. 4) Please have submissions in by Friday, May 30th*. (But I'll be honest, if you send them to me after that date, I'll still add them to my post.) You can either leave a link to your post in the comments here or tweet it to me, ( @ramblingfilm )  Thanks everyone! :)  *I had to move the date back a week due to Photobucket threatening me with bandwidth issues. But
Read more