Matt Damon’s minimalist performance – he hardly flexes a muscle – is the best thing about
this ambitious, speculative account of the formation of the Central Intelligence Agency. As Edward Wilson, a fictionalized amalgam of the
secretive, paranoid men who started the agency, Damon is in cipher mode (The Talented Mr. Ripley, the Bourne pictures), and his emotional control is frightening. Few actors can be so still and also so riveting.
Directed by Robert De Niro, who ably guides us across decades and through lots of intrigue but doesn’t really offer an authoritative thematic punch.
