Richard Gere is making it awfully hard to admire his late-in-the-career try at new, exciting roles. Whether it’s playing an ambitious, reckless photojournalist in the sloppy The Hunting Party, a violent Public Safety officer in the grotesque, and grotesquely by-the-numbers, thriller The Flock or even the hardened cop-turned-hero in Antoine Fuqua‘s melodramatic Brooklyn’s Finest, it seems the cinematic world has passed the once-heartthrob on by. And so it is with The Double, screenwriter Michael Brandt‘s directorial debut, another choice by Gere, that at one time perhaps felt brave, feels tired and standard. Not unlike peer Kevin Costner (and Harrison Ford for that matter), either the material is no longer there for the stars they once were, or they no longer have the drive to broaden horizons and take real risks.
The Double tells the story of Paul Shepherdson (Gere), a recently retired, world-weary spy who’s brought back into the cross-hairs of international espionage when the spy-that-got-away – codename “Cassius” – re-appears after years in hiding. And while Shepherdson is convinced the murder committed is that of a Cassius copycat, young Ben Geary (Topher Grace) thinks otherwise, convincing C.I.A. director Tom Highland (a blink-and-you’ll-miss-him Martin Sheen) to partner the old and the new to catch the killer.
What ensues is a cat-and-mouse narrative involving a whole lot of everything, all of which amounts to not that much. There’s a captured spy named Brutus (True Blood‘s hunk Stephen Moyer), who Gere interrogates about the supposed return of Cassius. There’s a Russian prostitute (Castle‘s Stana Katic) who might know something. But all of this matters little as there is one character in particular who knows most everything, a plot point revealed far too early in the film. This misstep must be attributed to Brandt and his writing partner Derek Haas (the two are responsible for both 3:10 To Yuma and Catch That Kid, so let that disparity sink in).
All in all, what could have been an entertaining Cold War-era throwback thriller (not unlike the more successful Salt), feels unintentionally retro for all the wrong reasons. Its characters feel stubbornly modern – Gere and Grace would most likely not fair well in a period piece – while its dialogue plays as remnants from the deleted scenes of any number of 60s/70s-produced spy thrillers by better directors like Pakula and Pollack.
Certain plot lines are given too much play (Gere’s suspicious behavior) while others are given so little that questions are answered moments after they’re asked. It’s directing that feels like a constant cover-up for the writing.
What The Double needed was perhaps another draft before production.
The Double hits limited theaters on Friday, October 28th.