Damascus Cover

A honest artistic work: well acted, well shot, well edited. And middle east is always an interesting location. The plot is not the most brilliant ever written but I bet that most of us will not foresee the ending.

I don't understand why exceeding in negative reviews: not every film can be worth an Academy Award. But if you love cinema there is a good chance that you'll enjoy the flick.

I am old and I've seen much worse...

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!

I was able to watch it all the way through without regret, which is more than I can say for most movies these days. Nothing great, but not that bad either. I found the sound track kind of weird, the dialogue was so crisp and clear I almost thought it was looped, but I am not sure. It sounded like the mics were almost in the mouth of the characters as they spoke. Kind of off-putting.

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.

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.