This film is in a lot of trouble. Originally hoping (after its reception at the Toronto Film Festival) to be in with an oustide shot at an oscar nomination or two, the film's production company has filed for bankruptcy. The oscar hopes, however slim and unlikely they were to begin with, were kissed goodbye with this because nothing gets nominated nowadays without a massive advertising campaign, which could no longer be afforded. It is a shame because this is better than quite a few films that had such a luxury and has become available online prior to its release even in America (which looks iffy, let alone internationally).
The film is based on the premise of the Valerie Plame affair in America, which was where a journalist was jailed for refusing to give up her source after having written a story publically identifying the wife of a critic of the government as a CIA operative. Kate Beckinsale stars as the journalist who in this story outs Vera Farmiga's CIA agent and is soon pressured by special prosecutor Matt Dillon to reveal the name of the person who has committed treason in compromising National Security. Writer/Director Rod Lurie (whose debut, The Contender, also dealt with a principled woman's stand as the centrepiece of a political thriller) draws interesting parallels with the real life incident, but pushes elements across the situation to more extreme conclusions which generally work dramatically.
The ensemble cast is very impressive, it's Beckinsale's best work by a fair distance as she's very natural and manages to portray the dignity in an undignified situation nicely. Farmiga always does foul-mouthed very well and her CIA-agent soccer-mom is extremely believable. Dillon, Alan Alda and Noah Wyle (the latter two being Beckinsale's legal representatvies) provide excellent support and only David Schwimmer as her husband doesn't do much, but then he's not given much to do.
The editing is the best aspect of the film technically, it shifts along at a pace and balances different perspectives and storylines very well. If there is a slight criticism then it would be in the writing, certain screenwriting methods are repeatedly used, thus making aspects rather predictable. The finale doesn't really have a crescendo to it and ends rather abruptly, but after being so interesting and so well told and acted up til then it's only a minor criticism. This is a very good film which hopefully can sort out its problems and find good distribution because it's an intelligent exploration of the issues seen in a real life story taken further in a believable way, which would be certainly recommended should it get released.