On the day of his retirement, a veteran CIA agent learns that his former protégé has been arrested in China, is sentenced to die the next morning in Beijing, and that the CIA is considering letting that happen to avoid an international scandal.
Editing
Seamless Vietnam-to-Beijing-to-Langley cuts that make time itself the enemy.
Acting
Redford's smirk concealing decades of regret; Pitt's slow-burn disillusionment.
Production
That grainy Tony Scott aesthetic that screams '2001 espionage chic.'
Director
Tony Scott
Robert Redford
Nathan Muir
Brad Pitt
Tom Bishop
Catherine McCormack
Elizabeth Hadley
Stephen Dillane
Charles Harker
Larry Bryggman
Troy Folger
Marianne Jean-Baptiste
Gladys Jennip
Matthew Marsh
Dr. Byars
Todd Boyce
Robert Aiken
Michael Paul Chan
Vincent Vy Ngo
Garrick Hagon
Cy Wilson
Andrew Grainger
Andrew Unger
Bill Buell
Fred Kappler
Colin Stinton
Henry Pollard
Ted Maynard
CIA Administrator
Tom Hodgkins
CIA Lobby Guard
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The screenplay was famously rewritten by uncredited hands including David Mamet, whose fingerprints are all over the clipped, cynical dialogue.
Released weeks after 9/11, its CIA-critical tone and Middle East flashbacks hit completely differently than intended—audiences suddenly saw prophecy where there was cynicism.
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