Richard Gere's "Double" review

Which way now? That’s the question you’ll ask at the end of the movie Double, starring the aging-well Richard Gere. This fun spy thriller has some clever twists and turns, which I love. Even though I love a solid ending, I also love the conversation-starting rush that leaves you wondering what happens next. You think you know, but you might be wrong. Sure, it opens the movie up for a possible sequel or it could just be a fun way to leave you hanging.

My husband and I just discovered Double on Netflix last night. Directed by Michael Brandt and released late in 2011, the movie received mixed reviews. Richard Gere fans will be impressed that he runs and keeps up with the young FBI agent played by Topher Grace. Martin Sheen fans will get a kick out of his authoritative performance as the head of the CIA. (I miss The West Wing.)

Gere plays a retired CIA agent who is called back to help find a Soviet assassin claimed to have killed a U.S. senator. The Cold War is alive and well. One of my sons decided to start learning Russian lately, so it was fun to recognize some of the words he taught me. Thankfully, there are subtitles during the few moments the Slavic language is spoken in the movie. The plot solves a mystery early in the movie, to some movie-goers’ chagrin, but there are more crimes to solve as the movie rolls along the streets of Washington D.C. The director likes to zoom in on waving American flags, but the plot will make you wonder if our country’s intelligence has Sputnik-sized holes in it.

You’ll watch a bad guy swallow two batteries and see lots of bullets fly, but otherwise, there are no F-bombs, sex, or nudity, earning a solid PG-13 rating. No, it didn’t win any awards, but it passes for 1 ½ hours of interesting entertainment.