Berk tries to capture the inanities of the Middle East: how both sides have to go through the motions of cat and mouse, constantly switching who's the feline and who's the rodent, but you can't care when the characters are this one-dimensional.
Features the usual political-thriller tropes - tough but haunted protagonist, zigzag of foreign locales, rival spies, arcane twists, shifting allegiances, wedged-in romance - without adding much that feels unique or exciting.
There's not enough gas in the tank here, finding star Jonathan Rhys Meyers doing all the heavy lifting when it comes time to add some intensity to the comatose effort.
On the surface, [Cover] had a lot going for it: from the cast to the art direction to the verisimilitude of long-lived hostilities. But, particularly in the shadow of the incredible humanitarian crisis, the film felt like a series of missed opportunities.
The only thing anyone will remember about Damascus Cover is that it marks the final on-screen appearance of the now deceased tremendous actor John Hurt
Berk's movie is too plodding and predictable to generate anything more than a modest level of suspense; worse, it lacks enough excitement to qualify even as instantly forgettable popcorn entertainment.
