Intelligent and deep

Rating: 8/10 (28 March 2012)

No dead wood in this film, just a great script, great cast and great direction.
Damon's portrayal - based on James Jesus Angleton who, essentially, created the CIA from the OSS - was good in this case as he does stony silence better than most. His quiet unflappable manner spoke of still waters running very deep. The only kind of man for that job. John Turturro's lesser role still allowed him the space to work - the MKULTRA torture scene was difficult to pull off and still have the audience retain a skein of sympathy for Turturro's character. He managed it by convincing me that he was doing a difficult job as gently as possible. Was that a tinge of regret in his eyes? Robert de Niro was, as always, good and it didn't hurt that this role is not so far from the many mafiosi/goodfella type roles he has played in the past, only this time his suit was from an Ivy League tailor. Michael Gambon was brilliant as he fought to balance his loyalty with his duty and the secret that made him too vulnerable for it. "If you want to tie your shoelaces, I'll understand." Since Wilson didn't, Dr. Fredericks did it for him as a touching mark of respect. Alec Baldwin suited his role in this film and pleasantly surprised me with previously unseen gravitas. Interesting cameo from Keir Dullea, not sure why they bothered as he said perhaps three words. Angelina Jolie did well with her character who was pitiably in the wrong marriage, though Daisy's capriciousness was the reason why.
The time-lines were handled well. I tend to dislike choppy flashbacks and out of sequence stuff ever since that tedious Tarantino made it a fashionable gimmick in Pulp Fiction. But here, it works. There's a cleverly subtle washed-out look to the latter day scenes that make the past look more vibrant as only nostalgia can deliver and that helped cue when time-lines switched. It was as though Wilson was becoming disenchanted with the job though, clearly, he was the kind of man who would see it through to the end because he knew it was fundamentally important to his country. Some think the pace was poor but there was a lot of setting up needed to understand how this intricate house of cards came to be. Some think that Damon's character was dull. In a sense that's true; dull because he was so incredibly meticulous which, again, is the lifeblood of the agency. Musclebound thugs and vainglorious have-a-go heroes can be found in any bar in any city on earth. They're the blunt instruments that are precisely what the agency doesn't need except in very rare circumstances where they need a to set a dog to eat a dog.
Technically the film was very easy on the eye, great cinematography and atmospheric sets and lighting placed us right beside Wilson as he learnt his trade and moved his chess pieces. This is the kind of deep plotty Gordian knot that should be sipped and savoured like a tall drink.