The Fifth Estate

"The problem with true stories is that they always feel messy, imperfect, unfinished. For its first hour, Bill Condon's primer on WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is perfectly serviceable – if far from subtle, like reading a Wikipedia page on CAPS LOCK."

"Primarily hobbles itself by trying to cram in more context-needy material than any single drama should have to bear."

"With a riveting portrayal by Cumberbatch at its heart, The Fifth Estate tells its story grippingly - but finally leaves us none the wiser."

"Brühl, meanwhile, is saddled with the unenviable task of being this hollow movie’s slow-dawning voice of reason: His climactic conversation with newspaper editor David Thewlis (never worse) is one of the most embarrassingly didactic Way We Live Now™ summations ever filmed."

"There is something a little too pat about this narrative, and about the more-in-sorrow-than-in-anger spirit in which it is offered."

"This is highly competent catnip for the watercooler crowd."

"Condon seems to hope energetic staging and furrowed brows will compensate for a script that’s essentially an exchange of halfhearted arguments."

"A well-acted but uneven take on recent events that feels strangely superfluous."

"Cumberbatch's Julian Assange is the highlight of a sometimes ordinary-feeling film."

"Disappointingly dull account of a tale desperately in need of a sharper screenplay and some directorial vim. Might as well wait for the Blu-ray, Jules."