OK but not real enough

Rating: 6/10 (28 December 2006)

This movie was depressing but also very thought provoking in terms of presenting a case study on the choices people are forced to make in this profession. For those who are familiar with the history of the OSS and CIA and it's central players, they will be a bit disappointed by the lack of a solid historical thread. It offers some background - OSS to CIA connection, but that is really background noise. It is primarily the story of Edward Wilson's tortured life.
Furthermore, I grow tired of the Skull and Bones cliché - Yale aristocrats going on to rule the world through the CIA. Yes, I know a lot of the early CIA leaders were Yale grads.
Also, there was nothing ever redeeming shown as a result of what they were doing. The movie did focus on one of the CIAs big failures - Bay of Pigs. Everything was certainly put in a dark light.
Finally, after hearing about how heavily researched this movie was I regretted to see some very basic inaccuracies such as the Army soldier saluting Matt Damon's character when he accepted the offer to join OSS. 1. A civilian wouldn't be saluted by a soldier (except the President) 2. The Army does not salute indoors, although the Navy does.
Even after all of that I still thought it was a movie worth seeing. I agree with many of the other suggestions to make this a better movie - aging of Matt Damon, why the son was in Congo, etc.