Unfocused and incoherent.

Matt Damon does a wonderful job of keeping his poker face on, virtually throughout this entire, very long (2hr 47min) film, in creating the role of Edward Wilson, the “mother” of all spies. Under Robert DeNiro’s direction, the movie traces the origins and development of America’s Central Intelligence Agency from the WWII OSS to the botched Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 and ends with the construction of CIA headquarters. Fascinating insights into espionage, counter-intelligence and the Cold War cat-n-mouse games played by US and Soviet spies in the 1950s, with a bit of assistance from the Brits (a lovely part is played by Michael Gambon of “Harry Potter” fame). Lots of twists and turns. Lots of star power, too, including Alec Baldwin, William Hurt and John Turturo, with DeNiro in a minor but important part as the general behind the agency’s founding. I also enjoyed the cameo appearances by such luminaries as Joe Pesci and Timothy Hutton. And Angelina Jolie has a great role as Damon’s alcoholic wife in a “forced” marriage…so unlike her hard-as-nails “Laura Croft, Tomb Raider” character. One of the best lines in the film comes at the end in a response to a senator’s question about why people in The Agency say “CIA” instead of “The CIA” (like “The FBI”). The response: “You don’t say ‘the’ before God, do you?” By all means, see this!