The Double

Plot:  A retired CIA operative is paired with a young FBI agent to unravel the mystery of a senator's murder, with all signs pointing to a Soviet assassin.

Director:

Michael Brandt

Writers:

Michael Brandt, Derek Haas

Stars:

Richard Gere, Topher Grace, Martin Sheen

The IMDB plot sums it up pretty well.  Retired CIA man Richard Gere is brought out of retirement to try to catch an legendary Russian assassin codenamed "Cassius" that slits his target's throats with a garrote.  Topher Grace plays the ascendant agent who has become the expert on Cassius, and now they have to team up to catch the agent who the CIA believe to be long dead.

The acting is excellent, but the actions sucks and the movie left me with that "eh" feeling.  After seeing the movie, I am able to sit back and poke holes in the plot from start to finish, which is indicative of bad writing.  The good news is that the ending didn't suck and there were no cheesy one liners like you find so often in movies of this kind.

Overall, it was a realistic and interesting spy thriller that keeps you guessing until the end.  It may not make much sense if you are the type of analyze films, but you could do worse.

3/5 STARS