Emerson (John Cusack) is a government assassin who grew a conscience and failed to kill an innocent witness. He is given a desk job at a secure bunker in England. He will work with a woman (Malin Akerman) and together they transmit codes to agents operating in Europe performing all kind of black ops...or something. When the station is compromised, Emerson has orders to "retire the broadcaster."Most of the action takes place within the Numbers Station with the two main actors. The strength of this light spy action thriller rests on their performances as they fight for survival.Cusack was more convincing in this film than he was "The Factory." The movie holds your interest as you wonder what Emerson will ultimately do, why the station was compromised and by who. It is a film you will find "okay" and then forget about it as it blends into everything else you have seen.Parental guide: F-bomb. No sex or nudity.

Finally, after a string of dreadful scripts, poor directing and outright silliness, Cusack gets a role he can sink his teeth into. His character, Emerson Kent, is a burned out black ops agent. The character is a dark, tortured soul and Cusack plays it magnificently. Malin Akerman also shines in her role as Katherine, an ebullient and somewhat naive cryptographer with issues of her own.The plot gets down to business very quickly and the pace of the film never really lets up. Kent lets you know right away that he's no nice guy, so it's accurate to say that there really aren't any good guys here. Kent only seems intent on doing the right thing despite his ruthless past.There are no car chases. There are a few well placed explosions. But enough gunfire and action to move this 90-minute flick forward at just the right pace. It is at times thrilling, at times poignant, and at times quite violent. What else could you ask for in an action thriller?

THE NUMBERS STATION is a mediocre thriller based rather loosely on fact. Numbers stations do exist, to broadcast coded radio messages to spies in the form of numbers. In the film it is actually how the CIA controls an army of assassins who not only operate in the USA but whose main roles seems to be to kill former CIA staff (presumably none of the assassins ever wonder if they'll be next). The hero - a rumpled John Cusack - is inevitably a burn out - he killed a couple of civilians on his last job of course - assigned to babysit a woman, whose only job is to read the numbers, in a bunker in the UK. Inevitably baddies get inside and proceed to do bad things: can our heroes reverse the false numbers they inserted and survive? The plot is full of holes, the story relies on wonky flash backs and the characters are stock but the Scandi director and short running time mean the film is just about watchable provided you leave your brain at the door.

if anyone remembers the film the number 23 where Jim Carrey just goes crazy & gets obsessed with numbers that film actually was seriously hilarious now its John Cusack in numbers station.the plot:black ops agent Kent is sent to a CIA broadcast station to protect a code operator Katherine.the technical department worked on this film did a bad job there is no proper light use,sound,editing most of all i didn't get the dialogs the actors cant speak properly and why there always has to be a lady that needs help in all agent films.the cast:what was John Cusack doing here sir please look at script first your the next Steven Segal if you keep this up,Malin Akerman did some good acting rest cast is wasted this movie is boring despite the good plot critics may like it but its far from an audience entertainer. overall the numbers station 2013 is a dull effort from the makers my rating is 2/10 avoid it for you own good and don't fall for the hype.Skipp it.