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Absolutely the worst movie.

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

In the intro, a group of illegals crosses the border. Soon the border patrol arrives, most flee, but some start shooting and killing, and end up getting into the BP car. In the back are the real border patrol agents.Next we see a political debate on TV. One guy argues we should get tougher on Russia. Wow, not much has changed in 5 years. The other guy, a senator argues against the war-mongering neocon. But this senator also has business interests in Russia so the FBI is spying on him. When he leaves his room at night his throat is cut by a stranger, all this while the FBI is watching on monitors. When they get to the scene, the CIA is there for some reason and takes control. Even the CIA director shows up.Some guy arrives home to find the CIA director there who tells him about the crime. Turns out the guy, Paul, was a former CIA agent in charge of finding "Cassius" who was a Russian agent/international killer who was never caught. The CIA wants Paul's help now that it looks like Cassius has returned. All of Cassius victims had their throats slashed with wire. Paul reluctantly agrees to meet the joint CIA-FBI (!?) taskforce. There he meets his young FBI counterpart--another expert on Cassius who wrote his MA thesis on Cassius. Paul thinks it's a copycat, the kid thinks it the real deal. Of course Paul mocks the kid's youth and inexperience. And after leaving the meeting angrily of course Paul returns to help. Can there ever be an enthusiastic hero in a movie instead of always the reluctant hero? Ben, the kid, and Paul visit some Russian convict who was part of the Cassius gang. They offer him a radio as a gift if he collaborates. He does, but ends up swallowing the batteries, which sends him to the hospital. There he takes his chance and escapes. But someone is waiting for him...and kills him. It's Cassius himself, whose surprise identity is revealed to us surprisingly early.The CIA in the meantime makes the connection between the illegals and the senator's death. Among the illegals were several Russians, one of them is a known entity to them. Even though Paul has been retired for years, all his contacts are intact, and he starts getting info to find the Russian. Ben invites Paul over for dinner where Paul does his best to tell Ben's lovely wife to convince her husband to drop this case, that Cassius is too dangerous, that if he gets to close Cassius would not hesitate to kill them all.Ben with the aide of a friend take a second look at all his Cassius files and discovers his probable identity. It now becomes a race whether they will be able to grab Cassius before he finds them. But there's another surprise revelation once they confront the Russian.The Double has a rich and complex story and, sure, it's not a bulletproof story but one with some plot holes here and there. Nevertheless, it's an accomplished spy thriller that gets us involved and interested in the outcome. Although the revelation of Cassius' identity early on is really odd. They could have based the entire movie on that moment had they made it the climax. So after the revelation and with that curiosity satisfied, the viewer is left wondering what the movie will center on for the rest of the time. It becomes a manhunt of course which made the revelation at the end pretty neat and unexpected. In a way it wasn't necessary for the emotional arc but it was necessary to fill some of those plot holes and make it all work and it also makes the move stand out among others in the genre. The ending too was pretty original.

Most viewers will probably get the feeling that they know "The Double"'s Big Secret before they even see the movie. I mean, isn't it obvious? Yes, it is. That's why the movie itself reveals it about 30 minutes in, thus getting the viewer to wonder: "Is that it?". Fortunately, it is not; there is a second Big Secret that is harder to foresee. The other main asset of "The Double" is Richard Gere, who still has star power, and is terrific in a relatively rare villainous role (see also "Internal Affairs"). On the whole, "The Double", much like its infamous Russian assassin Cassius, is an efficient machine that does its job with minimal fuss and doesn't worry much about deeper things. **1/2 out of 4.

After a United States senator is killed an FBI agent named "Ben Geary" (Topher Grace) is convinced that it is the work of an old Soviet assassin nicknamed "Cassius". So at a meeting with the directors of the FBI and CIA he puts his theory out there. However, a CIA agent by the name of "Paul Shepherdson" (Richard Gere) is still not convinced. Unfortunately, the director of the CIA "Tom Highland" (Martin Sheen) wants proof that Cassius isn't the culprit and so both Geary and Shepherdson are teamed up to investigate whether or not the theory is true. Now rather than reveal any more of this movie and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it, I will just say that it had some interesting twists and turns along the way. Having said that I thought that the movie could have been better if had a little more mystery and suspense here and there. But that's just my opinion. In any case, I thought the movie was somewhat entertaining and so I rate it as slightly above average.

A spy thriller in a line of spy thrillers that manages to captivate and entertain its audience, if not thrill. Following a formula to the letter, The Double is predictable to the last plot point, and the pretty packaging of this movie is tied up with a bow, not in the least surprising though it attempts one surprise after another. You'll quickly understand the intent of the plot, and the identity of the characters, but Gere and Grace are strong enough actors that they can turn predictable characters into interesting performances.Russian spies in the U.S., but for how long? According to FBI Agent Ben Geary, they have been for as long as you can imagine. He is hot on the trail of long-ghosted assassin Cassius, a man never identified and never caught when the Russians were the worst threat the CIA could imagine, back in the 80's and 90's. According to CIA Agent Paul Shepherdson, though, those days are over. Begin sparring between agencies to get to the bottom of a mystery, or perhaps begin re-looking at what everyone thinks they know. You won't have to watch long to understand the true story behind the story, but you'll want to watch to see just how it all plays out.