I checked through the threads and didn't see any one specific thread dedicated to the movie The Whistleblower.

Although Ben's part in it was very small (about 2 minutes at best) he is in it and has some speaking lines (as the kind of creepy private military police officer).  He is playing an American and is pretty good at the accent (although his natural British accent does creep in now and again I think). 

This is the funniest thing though - I found this totally by accident.  Just flicking around on the telly and decided the topic (about a ex-cop who exposes a military contractor's participation in the sex trafficing trade in  Bosnia/Herzegovina) was interesting enough for a look see. 

It definitely was interesting enough!  A very grim. realistic adaptation of the real life experiences of Kathryn Bolkovac, who brought to light the crimes of the employees and the company DynCorp International (the pseudonym Democra Security was used in the film) when she sued them after they fired her for whistleblowing on the whole operation.  She won her case in a British court but unfortunately rich and powerful forces of military contractors (who operate with the tacit approval of governments) prevented any real change from happening.

Rachel Weisz starred in this film (while Vanessa Redgrave and David Strathairm are in supporting roles) and did a very good job in a very difficult role.  As Bolkovac, RW meets hypocrisy almost everywhere she turns, including in the form of BC's character.  He appears at first as a friendly, helpful co-worker but when faced with the prospect of helping Bolkovac or turning a blind eye he does the later.  He seems more interested in getting a date with her than assisting her bring these fellow employees to justice.  BC plays his short role deliciously creepy - his parting smile to her at the end of their conversation suddenly falls away to immediately reveal a more menacing look.  It is a small part but it does much to add to the effect of her general alienation to the rest of the company she is bound to for employment.  

Both my husband and I appreciated the skill and theme of this movie (I am redicent to say "enjoyed" here because the film is way too grim and sad to really enjoy).  Despite all my obsessiveness about BC and his roles it was Dan who actually spotted Ben when he first appeared!  The moment he saw him on screen (face partically covered by a military cap and his head down, using a broad American accent) he said "Hey that's Benedict Cumberbatch!".  I said "No, that's not him it's an American actor."  But Dan insisted it was him and convinced me finally it was.  Then I checked the credits on my iPad and had to eat humble pie.  LOL!  

There is a short video on Youtube of his role -




Nice little BC surprise in a very good movie.  This role came out in Sept. 2010 at the TIFF, just a couple of months after Sherlock hit the airwaves in the UK and three days after it came out in Canada. I would definitely recommend seeing this if you come across it  (it is a serious and important topic) but only if you can tolerate the extremely realistic violence done to the poor women in this grim depiction.  I didn't consider it exploitive in the film (it needed to be very harsh to get the scope of their plight across) but it is sometimes very hard to watch.

-Val