I like a good spy from time to time and since I kinda liked THE FALCON AND THE SNOWMAN I knew that one day or another I should have watched ALDRICH AMES TRAITOR WITHIN. Well, last June I finally saw it but it wasn't on the level of that other movie.
Aldrich Ames (Timothy Hutton) is a CIA operative that has problems at work because of his alcoholism and trouble in being awake, and in fact he is far from receiving a promotion. But he is also smarter than his cohorts and becomes dismayed when his ideas are put aside to make room for decisions based on policy. As Ames has to sell secrets to the Russians in the waning days of Cold War, the CIA and the FBI in 1993 investigate on Ames through electronic surveillance for tracking his movements, up until he was found, arrested and forced to serve a life sentence (and the real Ames is still serving it to this day).
Hutton, Joan Plowright and Elizabeth Pena did their best with the average material given. But what ruined the movie for me was that despite it's based on a true story in some points the lead's actions surpassed credibility and in some points it was hard to follow. If there was some action and the characters were more involving, I probably would have liked it more.
Aldrich Ames (Timothy Hutton) is a CIA operative that has problems at work because of his alcoholism and trouble in being awake, and in fact he is far from receiving a promotion. But he is also smarter than his cohorts and becomes dismayed when his ideas are put aside to make room for decisions based on policy. As Ames has to sell secrets to the Russians in the waning days of Cold War, the CIA and the FBI in 1993 investigate on Ames through electronic surveillance for tracking his movements, up until he was found, arrested and forced to serve a life sentence (and the real Ames is still serving it to this day).
Hutton, Joan Plowright and Elizabeth Pena did their best with the average material given. But what ruined the movie for me was that despite it's based on a true story in some points the lead's actions surpassed credibility and in some points it was hard to follow. If there was some action and the characters were more involving, I probably would have liked it more.