The Statement

Partly because of Caine and partly because of meticulous work by veteran director Norman Jewison, The Statement is a fiction done so effectively, it rings true -- even slick lines that may otherwise be rancid.

Jewison dodges the issues in the script by Ronald Harwood (The Pianist) to focus on cat-and-mouse chases that kill interest.

As much as these wonderful actors invest their performances with psychological nuance, their efforts go mostly for naught in a movie that gives character development a distant back seat to the grinding mechanics of its formulaic plot.

For a story that centers on intrigue in high places, the few even halfway-grabbing scenes come from the mild if unexplored sexual tension between co-Caine sleuthers Tilda Swinton and Jeremy Northam.

I don't require that a movie have a message, but in a message movie it is helpful to know what the message is.

Films can't just sound good on paper; they have to be effective on the screen, and in that form, The Statement is disappointing.

I don't require that a movie have a message, but in a message movie it is helpful to know what the message is.

Films can't just sound good on paper; they have to be effective on the screen, and in that form, The Statement is disappointing.

For a story that centers on intrigue in high places, the few even halfway-grabbing scenes come from the mild if unexplored sexual tension between co-Caine sleuthers Tilda Swinton and Jeremy Northam.

Lackluster pic fails both as suspense and as character study.