Richard Gere, a retired CIA agent is called back from retirement to find a Soviet assassin believed to have been dead. A senator was murdered with the killer using the same MO as code name "Cassius" a former Russian agent assassin who was never caught. Gere is paired with Topher Grace, a young desk jockey from the FBI. Topher studied Cassius and wrote his thesis on him. He believes Cassius is alive and retired in the US and is the recent killer. Gere claims it is a copy cat killer and does not want to work with Topher.There is an early plot twist, something we get enough hints to clue us in. Even though Topher lacks field experience he is fairly savvy. As they seek out Cassius, bodies start to accumulate. Martin Sheen plays the head of the CIA. While an early mystery is solved for us, there are others that exist. There are action scenes, killings, and drama. I felt the acting brought the film down. Gere was wrong for that role. I really would have liked a hipper Travolta. I did enjoy the soundtrack, which was a mild Russian pagan metal with a good drum beat. Makes for a decent spy drama rental. 7 stars. Gere fans can take it to 8 stars as he looks like he has stayed in pretty good shape for a man his age.No f-bombs, sex, or nudity. Mild swearing.

I guessed the plot before they even gave the hints. This is almost a good movie - the acting talent just about saves it.It was an OK performance direction-wise but watching it was like listening to a competent amateur pianist plod through a Chopin piece. It was just bland, and lacking in artistry or sophistication.

One of the major problems with 'The Double' is the trailer advertising it. If you've seen it, it tells you most of the story (and one of the twists). However, I only found that out by reading the internet forums about this movie. I suppose I fortunate enough not to see the trailer, hence I quite enjoyed finding out what was happening as it went along.It's nothing too revolutionary - old dog spy (Gere) paired with up and coming spy (Grace) - it's effectively a mismatch/buddy-cop film but with spies. It flits between action and talking, with a few surprises thrown into the mix. Plus it isn't too long, so it fits everything in and quite nicely.But, although it's a decent watch, it probably could have been better. It gives away one of the surprises too early, which may lead some to lose interest. However, at least there are a few more twists to come which I'm guessing the writer hoped would make up for it.In short, it's not bad, but not a classic. Plus, avoid watching its trailer at all costs. Long gone are the days when a trailer is made to tease and draw you to a movie without revealing anything. I decided to watch the trailer AFTER I'd seen the film and I can see what people meant about it. I really don't know what the film-makers were doing with the trailer - it's effectively a ninety minute film condensed into a couple of minutes.Overall this is a decent and entertaining production for which you have to keep expectations low on all levels in order to enjoy it.

I watched this with a family member the other night and she was bored after 10 minutes. I figured that the pace would pick up and with the screenwriters' previous credits, had much higher hopes for it, but come the 30 minute mark, I was incredibly bored too.Making a decent spy film, to me, seems to hinge on one - or a combination of - three things: great action, intelligent suspense and/or dramatic characters. The problem with this film is that the characters (or actors - take your pick) didn't bring us into their world and the action was clearly held back to play on the suspense, which, unfortunately, was pretty much void.We're expected to believe that with all of today's crime scene nous and technology, nobody can tell the difference between a wire and knife cut, as the film's resident expert, Topher Grace, tells of how the killer doesn't cut from left-to-right, but upwards, and the reveal of Gere's real identity so early in seemed to make watching the remainder kind of pointless.Maybe I missed something? Perhaps this big reveal was part of a mega twist near the end? Unfortunately, with 6 film channels to choose from, something this dull won't see two people in a room together reach the conclusion, and where I may go back later (having recorded it) to see if the film got any better, flicking over to the news on another station did prove vastly superior viewing.