2006 thriller/history pic directed by Robert DeNiro and written by Eric Roth, who wrote some fantastic movies in the past like Ali, The Insider and Forrest Gump. This is only DeNiro's second shot at directing and man what an amazing second shot it is. It is a rich, textured, complex slow boil. It takes a very slow, simmering pace that just seems to cook, despite that fact that an enormous amount of stuff happens. It spans the whole career of Edward Wilson from college to retirement. While this isn't a true story, it's a fictionalized retelling of the founding of the CIA and the career of one of history's most influential counterintelligence personalities (James Angleton, who Ed Wilson is based on). This movie is good at just about everything it does. The story, the costumes, the cinematography, the history, it's all good, and the acting is fantastic. This movie does a great job of creating the essence of that very tense, secretive period in our history and really shows the repercussions as well.
Trivia: Leo DiCaprio was originally cast as Ed Wilson, but dropped out to do The Departed. He told Matt Damon (whose also in The Departed) on set. So, Damon decided to go out for the part, got it and just decided to do both movies at the same time. Leo's loss I guess.
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