The Double

The best thing about this film would have to be the title. I think it sums up pretty well what it is about. That's when it ends of course.

The Double

I found an emotional scene at the end with an American Flag quite funny. America! I wasn't laughing at patriotism; I think that's awesome. It was the context that it was used in.

The Double stars Richard Gere as Paul Shepherdson, a retired CIA agent brought back to track an ex-KGB / Russian agent from the Cold War era, code-named Cassius. His appearance is unknown. Topher Grace plays Ben Geary (pronounced Gary; why American accent?), and is an FBI agent who is paired with Sheperdson to get to the bottom of this case once and for all!

So, there's a slightly typical story, with suggested twists and turns insinuated throughout, and a couple more added on just for good measure. The partners against crime go through old contacts and clues to track down Cassius' more current whereabouts. This means talking to his old group members, the 'Cassius Seven', or at least the one remaining member of them. This doesn't end well for him, but it triggers the first plot twist, where we get an indication of how the film will pan out.

To be honest, it feels as if I have seen this film before, which I haven't, but I have at the same time. This story has probably been done many times over, and this one tries to be different but in the end, turns out as you would imagine.

Apart from the second or third plot twist: the one added on for good measure. That's a new one, I think. It's all good, until the laughable closing scene.

A good one to watch how the title is such a good fit, but otherwise you've probably seen it already in some form.

:-)

Elky

Crazy, Stupid, Love.

Ryan Gosling topless. Yeah, that's got your attention.

I never had a baby-sitter as a kid (or at any age), but I could definitely see how someone may develop an attraction to one. Anyway!

Crazy, Stupid, Love. A lot of Ryan Gosling topless images in search engines.

Crazy, Stupid, Love is about a guy who likes a girl and marries her, but then she stops liking him and so they divorce. It's slightly more complicated than that, but that's the gist of it.

Cal Weaver (Steve Carrell) meets a mysterious stranger called Jacob (Ryan Gosling) in a bar after said-happenings, and the two embark on a journey to... make love and listen to the music. A lot.

Throughout the film there are a lot of twists and turns in the plot, with some genuinely taking me by surprise (kudos). There's even a fight scene! This is the scene where I actually thought, "there has actually been a lot of effort put into this whole film to make the pieces fit together", and that isn't easy.

It's a love story. Well, maybe three intertwined love stories. Or perhaps four? There's a fair few, and they're all linked, and this is where I have a minor criticism with the film. During the fight scene, David Lindhagen (Kevin Bacon) shows up and gets involved with the tussle. It's moments like these where the plot seems to have been forced together for more drama and comedy effect, rather than naturally unravelling which detracts a little.

As I said earlier, I was taken by surprise by how things turned out. Obviously I was slightly biased with my thoughts on how it might; I assumed that there would be a happy ending, but I couldn't exactly work out how there could be with so much tension being added on with each character encounter.

I'd like to say there's a complicated love triangle, but it's more like a pentagon: son, sitter, father, wife, cheater, player, daughter, teacher, other father... okay more like a nine-sided shaped... love... affair. It's hard to explain, but entertaining to watch.

So, a story of loves, of heartbreaks, of soul mates, of game-players, game-changers, cheaters, parents, baby-sitters, teachers and a whole bunch of other stuff. I don't feel like it's a lazy film at all; I really feel like the subject matter might be clichéd and slightly flawed in places, but credit where credit is due, it entertained me.

"Hey everyone, it's just a divorce!"

:-)

Elky