A retired CIA spy and a fledgling FBI agent team up to investigate the murder of a U.S. senator and catch a notorious killer in this high-stakes political thriller starring Richard Gere and Topher Grace. Back when he was an active operative, Paul Shepherdson (Gere) devoted his every waking minute to capturing "Cassius" – an elusive Soviet hit-man with a spectral reputation. Decades later, Shepherdson believes that Cassius has been taken out of the game. But when a U.S. senator is assassinated and all evidence links the killing to Cassius, Shepherdson's former boss Tom Highland (Martin Sheen) convinces his old operative to investigate. Meanwhile, FBI agent Ben Geary (Grace) becomes positively certain that the high-profile murder is the work of the notorious Soviet hatchet man, and begins working with Shepherdson to crack the case. Now, in order to learn their target's true identity, Shepherdson and Geary must first revisit the entire case from top to bottom. In the process, the two determined men uncover a clue that indicates Cassius may not, in fact, be the prime suspect that the government has been chasing for decades, but instead the last person anyone ever expected. A retired CIA operative is paired with a young FBI agent to unravel the mystery of a senator's murder, with all signs pointing to a Soviet assassin. When a senator is murdered, CIA agent Paul Shepherdson (Richard Gere) that is near retirement is summoned by his chief Tom Highland (Martin Sheen) to investigate the murder of a senator. Paul has joined CIA twenty-five years ago and has been unsuccessfully hunting down the Russian assassin Cassius 7. The senator was murdered with the same "modus operandi" of Cassius 7, but Paul insists that it is a copycat. <br/><br/>They go to a meeting with the FBI and Paul is introduced to the young FBI agent Ben (Topher Grace), who has prepared his Harvard thesis based on the killer. Tom asks the reluctant Paul to work with Ben to find Cassius 7 whereabouts. But the problem is Paul Shepherdson is Cassius 7 and Ben knows too much about the assassin.<br/><br/>"The Double" is old-fashioned thriller about Russian assassins that are unexpectedly awakened to accomplish an assignment. The idea is not original and unfortunately the identity of Cassius 7 is known since the beginning. However, the plot keeps the tension along the story until the last surprising plot point. The viewer has to pay attention to several details that are not easy to be followed. With similar theme, 1962 "The Manchurian Candidate" and "No Way Out" are better and better. My vote is seven.<br/><br/>Title (Brazil): "Codinome Cassius 7" ("Codiname Cassius 7")<br/><br/>Note: On 22 October 2016, I saw this film again. Best unintentional comedy of last year goes to this poorly scripted shambles. Richard Gere is brought out of retirement and partnered with Topher Grace to track down a Russian assassin that has been missing for years, but has finally resurfaced. First of all, let's deal with the twist that was given away in the trailer. It is revealed in the first 30 minutes that Gere is in fact the assassin he is hunting. The hilarity comes from none of the other characters realising this. It verged on spoof at times. Gere gets angry and starts shouting as he tries to convince colleagues that Hassan is the assassin. Grace seems unsure, then after Gere is pretty much crossing his fingers and yelling "I hope he falls for this", Grace agrees and then Gere looks relieved. For an undercover assassin he has the worst poker face. I'd love to edit out the reveal, and see how quickly people guess. Alarm bells should be ringing at the stupidity of this script from the very beginning. Gere is at a children's baseball game and starts chatting with a young mother "Which kid is yours?" she asks. "Oh no, I live close by and just come and watch every now and again." Brief pause, how is she going to react? "Oh, that's so sweet." No it isn't. It's creepy and sinister. As it goes on I got many a great chuckle and even considered applying for the FBI or CIA as they'll clearly recruit anyone. The final twist is just pathetic. A final attempt to try and surprise us, but instead it just confuses. It was needless and forced, and the ending had no real resolution especially in terms of morality. The twist in The Double slack mystery-thriller is revealed with a shrug about a third of the way in. After that, it's all about Gere looking grim, and Grace looking stricken as he learns what we already know.
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