25
Many of the problems with Closed Circuit stem from a script littered with first-draft exposition...exacerbated by unimaginative staging.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
38
Slant Magazine by Abhimanyu Das
It fails as a critique of draconian security states and surveillance culture, moving too fast to properly consider any of the well-worn ideas it glosses over.
50
The sloppy reveals of the third act can be seen from miles away, turning this into a low-impact actioner where characters are turned into chess pieces, and the narrative’s aim is to strategically assemble the parts like a play set.
50
St. Louis Post-Dispatch by Joe Williams
Closed Circuit is not a tense thriller about the new era of surveillance — it's a tepid thriller about the old notion that no leader can be trusted.
30
The whole picture is lifeless and without consequence.
70
[A] slick, smarter-than-usual conspiracy yarn.
50
McClatchy-Tribune News Service by Roger Moore
Blame it on the weak chemistry of the stars, blame it on the way the script refuses to let them develop chemistry and the perfunctory way the story is dispensed with, but the sparks aren’t there.
50
It’s a slickly packaged, proficient thriller first, political statement a distant, speck-on-the-horizon second.
50
Village Voice by Stephanie Zacharek
To Crowley's credit, Closed Circuit is decidedly unflashy. But maybe that's a liability: There's a fine line between restrained and drab, and Closed Circuit falls just on the wrong side of it.
50
The Hollywood Reporter by Stephen Farber
A couple of scenes toward the end do generate the suspense that the whole movie needed. But the impact is too muted, and an air of tired familiarity ultimately curdles the entire enterprise.