Just seen this movie today. I really liked it, it dealt with a lot of interesting topics in a very good and serious way. I am glad it wasn't just me struggling to understand the dialogue, though, because that was a big issue for me as well. It seemed to be a big issue with whoever did the work on the English subtitles too, because often - even mid-sentence - the subtitles would just go [inaudible dialogue].
Ben was of course amazing. Actually, this - of all the stuff he's done - was the one part that made me really realize what an extraordinary good actor he is.
Because most of the movies/series I've seen him in, he's played these larger than life, charismatic geniuses that sort of command the attention of the room as soon as they enter it, just by their very essence and nature (Sherlock, Khan, Julian Assange...). I just figured that was what Ben did - just his own persona demanded the attention of the room. Because even in interviews, where he's just being himself, he has that similar quality (although of course not to the same degree as the more exaggerated parts he plays). Of course, me having a celeb crush on him just enhances that.
In this movie, however, he just plays an ordinary bloke. Sure, a guy with some issues and demons, but still just a regular guy. And he was - he blended in so much that I hardly even saw him. I didn't see Sherlock, I didn't even see Ben. I hardly even heard that amazing baritone voice that could make me into a puddle on the floor just by reading the telephone book. All of it was gone. He was so... ordinary. His voice, his body language, his entire persona. Ben isn't ordinary. But Danny is.
So now I've seen that not can he just play up his natural charm and charisma, he can even downplay it until it's almost non-existent. I've rarely seen an actor do that, and it's an amazing feat in my opinion.
But, yes, the pic posted earlier reminded me of Sherlock as well. But apart from that, there was no Sherlock, Ben or Khan in anything during that movie. Extraordinarily well done.