The Double starring Richard Gere, Topher Grace, and Martin Sheen is only another of the recent spy/assassin thrillers that always seem to attract viewers. However this film seemingly came and went last October with most of us pretty much unaware of it. The numbers were pretty grim. It played at only 45 theaters in what you could call the the classic limited release, and stayed in release for just 21 days. Blink and you missed it. Total gross was $137K. This is a number that is so low and underwhelming – that it is shocking.
Makes you wonder how a film with at least two well known film actors, and one well-known TV actor, could make so little money. Before we get into specifics – don’t watch the trailer because the Grand Reveal is in the trailer. In the film, it comes so early on that the major portion of the suspense is killed off way, way too soon.
Whatever happened to set the stage, let out the line, hook the viewers, then have things work towards a conclusion? Here’s the hook: have one US Senator assassinated in such a way, that this killing bore all the trademarks of a legendary Soviet assassin called Cassius who until this killing, had been presumed to be dead. Since The Jackal had already been done, they needed a new name; hence Cassius.
But they brought back the same guy, who portrayed a similar role in a previous film, to go after a deadly assassin once again in this film. Right – Richard Gere played Declan Mulqueen, the hunter in pursuit of The Jackal. Now he plays the retired CIA agent Paul Shepherdson, called out of retirement by Tom Highland played by Martin Sheen, to work the case to bring Cassius down once again. Watch out that you don’t get typecast Mr. Gere.
According the Gere’s Shepherdson – Cassius was dead because he had shot him in the chest. But Sheen’s Highland says, “He survived.”
Geez. Really?
How come no one bothered to tell Shepherdson? The offered up excuse was that they didn’t want spoil his retirement. Go figure.
Any way, with this latest assassination, Shepherdson is asked to work with a young FBI hot-shot, Ben Geary, who is played by Topher Grace. He’s the one who did his Master’s thesis on Cassius while doing his post-graduate work at Harvard. So we have an unlikely pairing – the seasoned vet and the brilliant but untried in the field FBI newbie. Pairings like this are standard in the movies and on TV for cops, spy catchers, and for government agents of every stripe: CIA, FBI, DEA, ATF – you name it.
Well, that’s about as far as I can go in setting up the film. Any further and we would be in spoiler territory – and we are barely past the 10 minute mark of the film.
The casting of Gere was okay. I mean he’s been there and done this before. He is 63 years old and still looks great. And we bought into him then in The Jackal film, so why not now? Martin Sheen is 72 and should be playing grandfathers rather than still slogging into alleys looking at a dead Senator’s body at two in the morning. He’s always great – I mean he’s been the President (TV’s West Wing), the President’s right hand (The American President), a top Boston cop (The Departed), so we aren’t surprised to find him in another position of authority role.
But Topher Grace? Not the best casting for what is not only a smart FBI agent, but some one who can share a two-shot with Gere. He’s capable enough to do his lines and look like he belongs as a crime busting newbie, but it still seemed a reach.
So what went wrong? The misplaced Grand Reveal. Lousy locations. Too much repetition – we must have watched Shepherdson enter his own home at least four or five times. Or Shepherdson and Geary get out of their cars 8 or 9 times. Not enough roles for women. There were two – one on the wrong end of a hefty handgun, and the other relegated to the caring wife/lover/homemaker/child-rearing kind of role. Then at the end there’s another Grand Reveal/twist that you didn’t see coming – but it seemed a bit forced, and likely was more of a recovery type of thing to fix the earlier mistake.
There’s action: a few people die by means of a garrote. There’s a car chase, a chase on foot, a shoot-out – all of which are pedestrian at best (no pun intended).
This was the first directorial effort by Michael Brandt. He is best known for having written the 3:10 to Yuma with Russell Crowe, and Wanted which featured Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman.
But I’m going to lay the blame on this one on the producers who not only bought Brandt’s so-so screenplay, but then hired him to direct the film. It’s not an entire mess but it misses badly on the biggest and most important element – the story and the screenplay. Two point seven five is the rating. The DVD came out on January 31st, and Netflix is offering it as a streaming film.
