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There are some films that should never have been made. Films of this ilk range from those with unsalvageable, inept writing to those that are a draft away from a shootable script. The Double qualifies for two other, related reasons: gross miscasting (primarily) and directing incapable of overcoming the former. This is what you get when you're less than judicious about putting a movie package together.
The story starts off with the street murder of a US senator whose corpse bears the slit-throat signature of a fearsome, legendary Soviet assassin named "Cassius." The only wrinkle in the FBI's analysis of the tell-tale signs is that retired veteran agent Paul Shepherdson (Richard Gere, Amelia) was credited with killing Cassius back in Russia's KGB days. Nice premise so far, with the promise of much intrigue and mystery ahead. Trouble is... it's all downhill from here.
After Shepherdson's old supervisor Tom Highland (Martin Sheen, The Departed) observes the crime scene, he decides that it indeed bears the trademark of the Russian killer -- however much Shepherdson denies the possibility. Could it be a copycat murder? The senior agent throws that theory aside and brings his old subordinate out of retirement to look for explanations. Highland partners the cold war ace with newcomer Ben Geary (Topher Grace, Spider Man 3) and we now have a buddy movie. The buddy bond begins like so many others.
The rookie doesn't look particularly adept, and Shepherdson is clearly and openly displeased. But the academically trained youngster's got an ace. He not only has long been fascinated with Cassius but wrote his master's thesis on Shepherdson's pursuit of the assassin. He has closely studied both men of mystery through their shadowy histories. Phew! Thought for a second there that the partnership wasn't going to work. But this factor in Geary's curriculum vitae gives the lad a ticket to ride alongside his mentor.Examining security camera footage at the airport for suspicious characters entering the country, Shepherdson spots a team of known Russian mafiosi which includes a stone killer named Brutus (Stephen Moyer, True Blood TV series), a psychopath quite well known to the agent. He sets a trap to locate and capture this very dangerous man. A chase ensues but the man is cunning and escapes. He's later captured and interviewed by our team.
Spoilers follow now, so beware: The animal prowess and mental wiliness of the man is impressive as he paces his cell, and what he's capable of is subsequently proven by a feigned medical emergency and escape from his guarded hospital bed. (Never seen that before!) But before he gets a few steps beyond the rear entrance he's confronted by... Shepherdson! The veteran agent has been anticipating the devious Russian's every move.
Brutus shows no fear of his adversary until... Shepherdson identifies himself as Cassius! The escapee takes FBI-man at his word and his heretofore impregnable confidence melts like steel turned to cheese. He whimpers and pleads for his life. He knows: if he is truly in the presence of the man who once trained him (despite never having seen him), he is a dead man.
Indeed, agent S., now revealed in the movie's big twist as his own worst enemy -- a double agent! -- pulls his trademark weapon, a steel wire spring-loaded inside his wrist watch which he withdraws and garrotes the Russian with a speed that is both awesome and the work of a film double and some sharp editing. (It sure ain't all Richard Gere -- he probably hasn't moved that fast since track and field in high school.) The key idea here is to convince us that the slender, refined Gere can be accepted as the bloodiest and most feared international assassin in the known universe -- a man who was once betrayed by his own party and wrought vengeance upon his enemies with a trail of death across Europe.
Believe me, I tried, both to buy into the concept and to give the two lead actors a little benefit of the doubt about being adequate to their roles -- physically, mentally and/or lethally. That was a task beyond my ability. Like any good theater-goer, I'm willing and able to suspend disbelief for the sake of the values in a film. I mean, even the meritorious science-based Contagion isn't 100% logical and, well, Harry Potter is clearly (and richly) supernatural. But, here, if you suspend disbelief you've got less credibility than a Jackie Chan romp. The connection between a hands-on assassin from whom no one is safe -- and Gere -- was impossible for me to make. Which to me implies that, as a vehicle for the estimable actor, The Double, a study in dramatic convenience over reality, is headed for early oblivion.
What someone evidently had in mind in putting this deal together was for Michael Brandt, who has been on a roll with co-writer Derek Hass for co-writing Wanted and 3:10 to Yuma, to be given the chance to debut as director/co-writer and somehow pull off a Bourne Identity. But Gere is no Matt Damon. As writers, Brandt and Hass are no Tony Gilroy and W. Blake Herron. And as a director, Brandt is no Doug Liman. Not even close.
Brandt should have been contractually obligated to watch the Bourne series twenty times to get the hang of a psychological FBI crime drama before putting his director's chair on the set.
Odette Yustman (You Again) dresses things up a bit as Ben's wife, to whom Shepherdson gives a warning when the tyro agent grows suspicious of him. But despite this actress's great looks, her contribution in a superficial part is unmemorable, though harmless. Technical support is solid but undermined by the shaky concepts.
This is movie packaging at its worst -- putting elements together for the wrong reasons. Its end-of-September release has been delayed to end-of-October, which may or may not indicate that the message the producers received from focus groups or early critical reaction is that their package ingredients don't come to a boil. It would have made more sense to lick their wounds and kick this weak-at-the-knees make-work release straight-to-DVD which, if I had any money in it, I would have strongly advised.
