Michael Brandt’s (“3:10 to Yuma”) “The Double” is a fairly standard political thriller, yet another one that uses the Russians as adversaries. There are some exciting moments, a few twists and turns but the movie’s structure isn’t anything surprising.
John Debny’s score is the kind you’d usually hear in a movie like this. There are lots of shots of people in suits walking and talking quickly, suspicious persons being questioned. Some gunfights, a couple fistfights and a car chase. The film is set in Washington DC, which as we all know is the epicenter of political thrillers and Brandt makes good use of the familiar backdrops, starting several scenes with establishing shots of the different monuments and then having the characters walk and talk in front of them.
The story begins with the assassination of a U.S. Senator. The CIA thinks that this is the work of Cassius, an infamous Russian assassin responsible for killing a whole lot of people. Retired CIA agent Paul Shepardson (Richard Gere), who spent most of his life tracking the Soviet villain, is brought back into the rat race, and is forced to work with a young FBI agent Ben Geary (Topher Grace).
At first “The Double” is like one of those “old cranky cop working with young cocky rookie cop” movies. Shepardson is skeptical of Geary and of the whole case, because he claims he killed Cassius, while Ben is naïve and thinks he knows everything about Cassius because he wrote his Master’s thesis on him. But obviously he doesn’t know very much because we soon find out the Paul is Cassius.
Readers, if you’re concerned that I’ve just given away the movie’s biggest plot point, don’t fret. We learn of this fairly early and Brandt, along with co-writer Derek Haas, wouldn’t dare blow their biggest plot twist early on--you can expect plenty more twists to come. And the fact that we know Paul is Cassius drives the rest of the story. He continues to work with Ben, trying to throw him off course, and trying to get him off the case for Ben’s own safety. Also there are couple great scenes of the two of them discussing Cassius’s psyche.
Compared to the other usual tough guys in movies these days (Jason Statham comes to mind) Richard Gere doesn’t fit the profile. He has the kind of eyes that say “I’m not going to hurt you” instead of “I’m going to strangle you to death with the string on my watch.” But that isn’t a bad thing per se; in fact it works to his advantage in this film. For the most part he plays the role cool and relaxed, which makes it all the more striking when he’s cold and ruthless. Even in his early sixties the man can still throw a punch.
“The Double” is another one of those movies where it looks like none of the characters ever get any sleep. They’re driving from one location to the next, tracking someone down, or beating somebody up. The movie is always on the go and on the edge. A lot of fast tracking shots, overhead sweeping shots, the dialogue is quick and informative. When it isn’t nighttime each scene is dimly lit, with usually one or more people lurking in the shadows like serial killers ready to attack. And at 98 minutes “The Double” is surprisingly short for a thriller, which is good and bad. Good because the movie never drags or stalls at any point but bad because with a little more time the main characters could have been better developed and they wouldn’t have seemed so stiff.
Overall, “The Double” succeeds in being a solid spy/political thriller. There’s some strong acting, there’s a big twist at the end that you don’t see coming and it doesn’t overstay its welcome. Could it have been better? Sure. Like I said, its form isn’t anything we haven’t come to expect from movies like these but it’s still good enough to sustain your interest for 98 minutes.
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