Damascus Cover

I was impressed by this movie. The cinematography was notably good, providing one with a good feel of the atmosphere of the locations in which this film was shot.

I also enjoyed the political comments that punctuated this movie, without being 'preachy'; something that would certainly turn me off a movie.

The performances were strong, but at the same time not overly dramatic, which gave the movie the gravitas and tension required for a film in this genre. The storyline keeps you engaged from start to finish, and you leave the theatre suitably entertained - which is what you want.

Is this film a big budget production like 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'? No. Is it a good independent movie that will entertain you? Yes.

So bland. Very poor acting at times. It sounds like they're reading their lines. A slow, meandering pace. I'm writing this review as I'm watching it because I'm bored.

This is a quite mediocre spy movie. I used to like this genre a lot and would have the keenest interest to see them through, but this film, well, right after about 15 minutes, I've already got bored, lost my interest and became awfully impatient to watch along. During the fifteen minutes, I've first found out that the casting job was terrible; Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who played the main role as an Israeli spy, was a terrible cast, I couldn't stand his swaggering walking and his faulty ridiculed way of speaking, trying to be a mixture of German and Israeli person. Then again, Olivia Thirlby, who played a USA Today journalist, shooting pictures of those Israeli weirdos around the Weeping Wall without any obvious reason. Then an absolutely weak and unconvincing chaos was so conveniently created and suddenly died down to offer the opportunity for her and JRM's acquaintance. What an awkward and terrible scenario that only a lousy screenplay would have crafted. Then finding and signing up lot of Middle Eastern actors with big hooked noses and demonic vicious faces to play the Syrians simply further turned me off right away.

It's such an one-dimensional and highly predictable film, extremely mediocre. The only thing that worths your time was to take a look at those exotic scenes of the Middle Eastern city and village views, which by the same token, we've already seen thousand times in other films, including those travel documentary films and magazines. I'd never recommend you to waste your precious time to watch this mediocre film.

I guess making a film from a novel or book can never quite manage the intricate nuances of a story that in the written page interweaves chapter to chapter. This in my opinion was the main flaw in the film where many very good actors never had a chance to develop their roles and show their true characters as the screenplay jumped from scene to scene in a rather staccato fashion.

However I WAS impressed by the performance of Jonathon Rhys Meyers who held the film together with a confident and professional job in the leading role. I must say, unlike Toni Colette and Liam Neeson I have not seen a lot of Jonathon but as far as acting goes he is certainly on a par with the former two and could easily handle some other more challenging leading roles.

Not a great film but certainly a watchable one and if you want to follow the hard to follow plot read the book and just sit back and enjoy the screen action and very good performances from just about the whole cast. Seven out of ten from me.

I was intrigued by this film, not least because the late great John Hurt was involved and I believe it was sadly his last film. It was not a disappointment and had a retro- feel, in a good way! Being used to seeing so many slick spy thrillers, it was refreshing to see a film that was not obsessed with perfection. There were some interesting twists and turns and action scenes too. The main lead, Jonathan Rhys Meyers was well chosen and watchable. It is definitely worth a viewing and will be appreciated by those who prefer a vintage style spy thriller!