The Fifth Estate

Julian Assange gets scrutinized and even vilified at various points in The Fifth Estate. In other words, he’d probably love it.

As long as he’s in the spotlight, the notorious founder of the controversial WikiLeaks website — who has been living under political asylum at the Ecuadorian embassy in London since last year — doesn’t seem to mind a little negative publicity.

And this provocative and suspenseful biopic, directed by Bill Condon (Dreamgirls), dishes its share of dirt on the enigmatic white-haired maverick who desires both anonymity and fame.

It takes the form of a topical political thriller, with Benedict Cumberbatch (Star Trek Into Darkness) capturing Assange’s look and mannerisms in the lead role of a film that chronicles his rise to power and inevitable downfall.

In the film, Assange and colleague Daniel Berg (Daniel Bruhl) start small with a single laptop and a limited network of contributors, then expand into a global watchdog organization when their network of whistleblowers starts to grow. Before long, Assange becomes a celebrity and a rival to the world’s largest news organizations.

Eventually, his conscience clashes with that of Berg when it comes to their biggest breakthrough — the ability to release in-depth overseas war documents and footage from a military contractor named Daniel Manning, whose name has since become synonymous with the debate over public access to classified information.

The screenplay, adapted by Josh Singer (TV’s “The West Wing”) from a book co-written by Berg, is both technologically and politically savvy. Yet saddled with a conventional Hollywood framework, the script gives mild insight and doesn’t dig far enough beneath the surface.

The film’s best asset is its real-life subject, regardless of how embellished certain details might be. Assange is as fascinating a figure as Hollywood could ever dream up, and here he’s portrayed as an eccentric and emotionally troubled genius, certainly more than a cut-rate computer hacker, with cloudy motives.

The Fifth Estate argues that when judging Assange, it’s best to separate the man and his accomplishments. He might be a slimy character with questionable ethics and tactics, but his story provides an intriguing perspective on the changing media landscape and government secrecy.

Regardless of the preconceived notions of the audience, the slick and well-acted film maintains consistent tension even though widespread media reports already have leaked most of the true-life plot details.

Rated R, 128 minutes.