Trust no one. Deceive everyone.
2008-10-09
$70.0M
128 min
The CIA’s hunt is on for the mastermind of a wave of terrorist attacks. Roger Ferris is the agency’s man on the ground, moving from place to place, scrambling to stay ahead of ever-shifting events. An eye in the sky – a satellite link – watches Ferris. At the other end of that real-time link is the CIA’s Ed Hoffman, strategizing events from thousands of miles away. And as Ferris nears the target, he discovers trust can be just as dangerous as it is necessary for survival.
Crowe got second billing and they gave the limelight to DiCaprio instead...that's a great idea. that means that, as usual, DiCaprio is going to shine doing his "this is how you become a different person" thing and Crowe is going to actually act and not just try to hog the limelight.
The result is a tense and very well acted film.
It should have been a Masterpiece but...it was released in 2008 and America wanted pure escapism then, not tense spy thrillers that reflect the reality of two long endless wars...and it was released a little too close to The Good Shepard.
In fact, it felt a lot like the Good Shepard set in the modern era.
It was the Good Shepard with more action.
It was The Good Shepard with better acting, but only just.
So, if it waited another 2 years, we would have had a great film in a time when we were slowly starting to relax a little again.
If it waited 4 years, The Good Shepard would have been a distant memory and the shady CIA boss character would have seemed fresher.
Don't misunderstand, Crowe actually acts again and DiCaprio shines as usual, you will totally enjoy this movie.
The flaws are not its own, but rather a result of bad timing, pure and simple.
It should have been more, but the zietgiest wasn't there yet.
