Benedict Cumberbatch has been getting high praise for his portrayal of Assange in “The Fifth Estate” and it is well deserved. He got his look down perfectly and you almost believe Julian stepped out of his protective asylum to play the role himself. The acting is solid throughout the cast. The movie also stars David Thewlis, Laura Linney, Stanley Tucci and Anthony Mackie.

This is where the admiration for “The Fifth Estate” ends. The movie is a real chore to sit through. Unlike movies such as “Captain Phillips”, “Argo” and even “Apollo 13” where we know how the movie ends, but the filmmakers still manage to keep audiences at the edge of their seats and involved, this movie never manages to do so for one moment. The ones who have to carry the bulk of this blame has to be screenwriter, Josh Singer, who turned in a real boring adaptation. He actually took two books and turned them into one script and he obviously had trouble bringing a balance to the finished work. Also, this is his first foray in writing for the big screen. He usually writes, and excels, writing for television. It’s understandable why someone gave him a shot.

Director Bill Condon must burden the rest of what went wrong with “The Fifth Estate”. Even when he tries to create tension in the movie, like when someone is trying to make an escape, you will just want to fully sit back in your seat. There is never a need to move your butt up to the edge of it. Maybe working on the final two Twilight movies stymied some of his creativity. He also employs shots of symbolic imagery, which is supposed to represent the network that is WikiLeaks. All he winds up doing with those shots is confusing some members of the audience, but all it really shows is the lack of depth this movie possesses by filling it with these “creative” moments. To top it all off, the editing is often disjointed and the soundtrack feels like it belongs by something produced by MTV.

It’s understandable why Julian Assange is unhappy with “The Fifth Estate” as the movie winds up portraying him as a man ultimately driven by ego and not caring about the consequences of his actions. This is the type of movie you really want to get caught up in, but just never do. Yet, the movie does spark an interesting debate when you walk out. Those who saw an advanced screening of it at the Frank Theaters in Delray Market Place all were discussing whether a site like WikiLeaks should be posting the secrets they did, no matter what the cost. Ultimately, it is about seeking out the truth for yourself rather than relying on what others tells you. It is a good message to convey, it’s just a shame it was not attached to a more entertaining or inspiriting movie. This was neither. It is rated R for language and some violence.