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Closed Circuit | 2013 | R | - 3.5.6

When a bomb explodes in the middle of a crowded London market, it's up to two defense lawyers (Eric Bana and Rebecca Hall) to determine the truth about who committed the crime and why. Also with Jim Broadbent, John Humphreys, Nazaire Gbolo, David Sibley, Ciarán Hinds and Julia Stiles. Directed by John Crowley. [1:36]

SEX/NUDITY 3 - A married man and a woman (not his wife) dance together and he kisses her neck; they then kiss and it is implied that they have sex (no detail is shown). A man and a woman stand close to each other (their faces are very close, but they do not kiss).
 A man invites a woman out and we see them walking together as he places his hand on her shoulder. A man tells a woman, "We could just tell the judge that we had an affair."
 A woman takes off her blouse and we see her wearing a camisole (cleavage and bare shoulders are visible). A woman showers and we see her upper body silhouette through frosted shower door glass; we later see her wrapped with a towel and her bare shoulders are seen.

VIOLENCE/GORE 5 - We see several video feeds from closed circuit TV throughout the movie; one such video stream shows a bomb exploding in a crowded market and we see smoke and debris floating in front of the screens (no human carnage is shown).
 A man holds another man around the neck and the man thrashes; we see another man with a length of cloth and we then see the attacked man hanging dead in a prison cell with a urine stain on his pants.
 A man grabs a woman from behind and chokes her, she hits him in the face with a glass that breaks (we see blood on his face), then bites his arm (we see blood on his arm and shirt) and gets away. A man, a woman and a boy run from two men chasing them in a dark street; one man catches the woman and wraps a cord around her throat (she gags and gasps) before another man hits the attacker in the back of the head.
 A truck/van slams into the side of a taxi and we see the passenger of the taxi wearing a neck brace and in a hospital bed. Armed police move into a building, break down a door and arrest a man sleeping in bed.
 A man yells at a truck driver for parking in the wrong place. A man and a woman argue over a dining table in a crowded dining hall. A teen boy yells at a woman while she is questioning him about his father. A man speaks to a teen boy in a threatening tone.
 A teen boy throws a working hairdryer into a sink filled with water to short out the electricity. Emergency vehicles speed toward a bombing scene.
 A woman is alarmed when she finds a man in her office and it appears that he broke in. A woman appears frightened when she sees a book on a shelf is out of order. A woman walks alone at night in a dark walkway and passes a man sitting on the ground (she appears nervous, but nothing happens). A man and a woman meet secretly (they both appear nervous).
 A man vomits into a bucket (we hear the gag and splatter) and a woman in the room with him asks a guard to take "the vomit." A man appears to be sick and we see him scratching his skin; a woman insinuates that he is using heroin.
 A man reviews the events leading up to an explosion and says that a man "Blew himself up at the wheel of a truck." We hear that 120 people were killed in a bombing. We hear that a man committed suicide. We see newspaper headlines that read "American Journalist Killed." A man talks about "topping himself." A man talks about his "nasty divorce and custody battle." A man talks to a woman about being "bullied or intimidated" during preparation for a trial. People complain about airport security. People discuss whether a man's death was suicide or murder. A man tells another man "this room is bugged." A woman tells a teen boy that his father will "spend the rest of his life in prison." A man says of a dead man, "They threw him off a roof." We hear about a bombing in Munich. A woman tells a man that he is "expendable." A man and a woman tell each other that "You are the worst thing that ever happened to me." A man talks about destroying his son's life (because of infidelity and divorce).

LANGUAGE 6 - About 11 F-words, 1 scatological term, 2 mild obscenities, name-calling (neurotic, arrogant and unprincipled oaf, heartless, queer guy, paranoid), exclamations (bloody), 1 religious exclamation (Jesus).

SUBSTANCE USE - We hear that a man was arrested for heroin possession, a woman insinuates that he is using heroin, a woman talks about prison heroin being impure, a man takes tablets (we don't see what they are for), and a man questions another man about providing a man with heroin. A man drinks wine while alone in his apartment, people drink wine at a dinner party, a woman drinks a glass of wine, a woman pours a beer and nearly drinks it, and we hear someone say, "I hope I might get drunk." A man smokes a cigar and drinks a glass of wine, two men smoke cigarettes in a parking lot, a man smokes in a dark alley, a man smokes a cigarette, and a man says, "I needed a cigarette."

DISCUSSION TOPICS - Terrorism, conspiracies, judicial process, infidelity, divorce, custody, politics, suicide, radicalization, MI5, weakness, integrity, murder, assassination, manipulation, malpractice, incompetence, trust, informants, anonymity, coercion.

MESSAGE - Be careful whom you trust.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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