“The Fifth Estate” follows the rise to prominence and popularity of the WikiLeaks website and founder, Julian Assange (Benedict Cumberbatch), over a five–year period, culminating in the website’s biggest leak: Iraq and Afghan War diaries and government cables. Along with exploring Assange’s struggle to reach international popularity, the film focuses on the relationship between Assange and his partner Daniel Berg (Daniel Brühl).
The film starts with a striking title scene that speeds through the history of media and information, setting the stage for what seems like will be a fascinating movie. “The Fifth Estate,” however, does not live up to the promise of its opening sequence. While the cinematography is impressive, complete with entertaining, surreal portrayals of the WikiLeaks website’s network, the film’s storyline is lacking in substance. Cumberbatch plays Assange extremely well; unfortunately, there isn’t much of a character written for him to play. His acting conveys an inner turmoil, but the script does not. You leave without feeling any prevailingly negative or positive feelings towards Assange or Berg, but rather ambivalence towards both.
The small roles that David Thewlis and Peter Capaldi play, writer and editor of “The Guardian” respectively, are two of the most entertaining actors, but unfortunately they are not featured prominently. Along with its lack of strongly written characters, the film does not have any one relationship that dominates. It weaves the relationships between Julian and Daniel, Daniel and his lover (Alicia Vikander) and WikiLeaks, the media and the government together in such a way that there is no clear outcome to any of them.
The strong acting and visuals cannot make up for the lack of content in “The Fifth Estate.” Perhaps what’s most interesting about the film is the potential it shows for a future documentary remake. After all, sometimes the truth is more cinematic than cinema itself.
Grade: B- Rating & Runtime: R, 128 min. See if you liked: "The Social Networ"
