Could have been much shorter, much more of grit than opera music!!

Rating: 5/10 (9 February 2007)

We have all seen spy thrillers - Spy Games, Recruit, etc... The difference...this movie is supposed to be about the foundation of the CIA. Yes, good History lesson, good background study, but why the length..why the 'defeaning silences'. The only 'spy stuff' part of the movie..the deduction about Congo being the location. The rest of it..plain, Bailey-detective, painstaking, deduction. Realistic....definitely. Did we need a 2.5 hour movie for just that? Nope.
Maybe I am too much of a Jack Ryan fan to appreciate this. But i think De Niro should stick to acting, which beyond doubt, he is beyond words at!