Tries to be great, but ultimately fails.

Rating: 4/10 (8 April 2007)

I found the core storyline not hard to follow, but because they chose to include so many under-explained tangents (it came off as a lame attempt to make it seem like it had more depth and girth than it actually did), the overall result is that the movie felt muddled. Add that to the problematic pacing/awful editing job, and this movie becomes the epitome of potential without successful followup.
I saw it in a theater, so I got the chance to watch it intently, without interruption, but I kept asking my friend what time it was.... even as early as only an hour in! Not a great or even remotely interesting movie by any means, and some seem to be fixated on the idea that it *must* be great because it's a movie about the CIA directed by De Niro that doesn't have explosions/car chases or romance/sentimentality. But in the end, this movie is totally forgettable. It's not a deep or extremely intellectual movie, but rather just a simple story in a convoluted veil, attempting to hide that there's not much substance to this.
Also, depth-less performance by Damon.