This movie is a family drama and a spy thriller at the same time. It is also a comedy that makes some fun of both genres, although I am not sure if that is intentional.
The acting and the direction are quite good, the screenplay and maybe the editing less so. I suppose the main error is the decision to tell the story from the father's and the son's perspective alternatively. I think it would have been much better and thrilling to tell it from the son's entirely (but in that case maybe it would have been impossible to use a big star in the father's role). The viewers become aware of the father's double-identity much earlier than the son in an incident at the airport that is unexpected, weird, outlandish and laughable. I really did not understand what was going on. The effect of surprise was thus given away pretty cheaply. I also think that the whole plot did not really make much sense including the long dewiring of the human bomb mother at the end. Too much remains unexplained.
But on the whole this is nevertheless a quite atmospheric movie with beautiful locations in Paris, France and Germany. The highlight is a chase sequence through the town of Hamburg which involves a small red Fiat car, a Mercedes taxicab and a small, spluttering three-wheel vehicle. Hackman jumps into a canal and Dillon drives the Fiat up some pretty steep flights of stairs. So I do not think I wasted my time entirely.
To any viewer interested in Hackman playing a dad, I can highly recommend the movie Class Action in which a brilliant Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio plays his daughter.
The acting and the direction are quite good, the screenplay and maybe the editing less so. I suppose the main error is the decision to tell the story from the father's and the son's perspective alternatively. I think it would have been much better and thrilling to tell it from the son's entirely (but in that case maybe it would have been impossible to use a big star in the father's role). The viewers become aware of the father's double-identity much earlier than the son in an incident at the airport that is unexpected, weird, outlandish and laughable. I really did not understand what was going on. The effect of surprise was thus given away pretty cheaply. I also think that the whole plot did not really make much sense including the long dewiring of the human bomb mother at the end. Too much remains unexplained.
But on the whole this is nevertheless a quite atmospheric movie with beautiful locations in Paris, France and Germany. The highlight is a chase sequence through the town of Hamburg which involves a small red Fiat car, a Mercedes taxicab and a small, spluttering three-wheel vehicle. Hackman jumps into a canal and Dillon drives the Fiat up some pretty steep flights of stairs. So I do not think I wasted my time entirely.
To any viewer interested in Hackman playing a dad, I can highly recommend the movie Class Action in which a brilliant Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio plays his daughter.