The Double

The twist in The Double slack mystery-thriller is revealed with a shrug about a third of the way in. After that, it's all about Gere looking grim, and Grace looking stricken as he learns what we already know.

The movie was directed by Michael Brandt, who co-wrote the script with Derek Haas. Together they wrote a much better movie, "3:10 to Yuma." The Double doesn't approach it in terms of quality. None of it is particularly compelling.

Roughly 99 percent of the time, if a movie that seems like it should be a big deal appears almost out of the blue, it's because it's lousy. The Double doesn't exactly buck that trend.

A moldy, post-cold-war spy thriller.

Like a "Training Day" for spy thrillers, The Double provocatively pairs Gere and Grace as a gray-green odd couple, only to unravel as the double-crossed absurdities pile up and the duo start trading bad Russian accents in a private Mexican standoff. Oh nyet you didn't!

Speaking of the script, questionable motives and unbelievable decisions are relatively small potatoes compared with the Sputnik-size plotholes.

If the idea of a political thriller with a modern-day Cold War theme resonates with you or something in our collective unconscious, my FOMO levels are higher than a lonely night on Facebook.

First off, all the performances were very good; I only wish the same could be said for the script. The plot wanders about; giving away very key information far too early (IMO) and taking all the mystery out of it for me. Yes, there is a twist at the end, but by that time I’m just pissed off with it. It’s well shot with most of the action taking place in and around Washington DC. It was nice to see Martin Sheen as CIA director Tom Highland; it was kinda odd seeing him in Washington & not being the President. Over all, a film that failed to live up to expectations; I know which direction I would have taken it in and that would have been a much better story. SteelMonster’s verdict: NOT RECOMMENDED My score: 5.7/10

The Double has some fun cat & mouse spy action. Beyond that, there's not too much to say. The movie suffers from being a bit generic but it's a decent night's entertainment.

Talk about jumping the shark! "The Double" gives away a plot twist in the first twenty minutes of the movie! What a rookie mistake. Although that sort of move might actually pay off for its creativity in better movies, "The Double" doesn't pay off at all. Richard Gere and Martin Sheen give good performances, but Topher Grace tries way to hard. He tries to give his character more depth and gravitas but he fails miserably. "The Double" can try to be all it wants but the truth is that it's a hollow spy thriller with good intentions but bad execution.