“The Double” stars Richard Gere as a retired spy called back into service to find a Cold-War Soviet assassin, code-named ”Cassius.” The murder of a U.S. Senator has the CIA on edge. Could it be the legendary hit man who strangles his victims with a wire? Or, is it a copycat killer with a political agenda?
Paul Sheperdson is assigned to work with an up-and-coming FBI agent Ben Geary (Topher Grace). Geary wrote his thesis on Cassius and Sheperdson has been on a less scholarly pursuit of the killer for decades.
The two men interrogate a Cassius associate, secretly imprisoned by the CIA. He escapes. A major plot twist is revealed. and, then another Russian killer is added to the mix and you’ve got “The Double.”
The action-thriller, directed by Michael Brandt who also co-wrote the screenplay, is not much to get excited about. There are plenty of twists and turns, but the film is dull and mostly uninteresting.
Gere phones in a cool, detached performance. Grace is sub-par as the whiz kid agent. And, the story, despite numerous plot twists, fails to entertain. Grade: C.
