Aldrich Ames: Traitor Within

I love spy flicks and this time we have Hutton revisiting a similar role to his character in Falcon and the Snowman although he's in a vehicle that doens't treat us to the action and intrigue that Falcon had. This one is more of a meat and potatoes offering. This movie is based on the real Aldrich Ames, who was the CIA operative who sold secrets to the Russians as the Cold War was winding down in the late 80s. Hutton does well as Ames as we see the character become disillusioned not with the idea of democracy, but with how the system operates. Ames does not quite fit in with the ex-frat boys he is working with but takes his lumps as he is passed over in being promoted. Obviously more intelligent than most of his cohorts, he becomes dismayed at how his ideas are put aside to make room for decisions based on policy rather than policy based on information gathered from intelligence operations. The movie glosses over parts of the story and details that might have made it more suspenseful. Hutton might be a bit young to for the role of a burnt-out career government worker, but it doesn't detract that much from the story. Pena also does well as his Columbian wife but her role is somewhat diminished by lack of screen time. And there is a little old lady who plays a consultant to the CIA that is given the task of figuring out who the spy is. She and her crack team of old hens suprised me with their no-nonsense, dogged determination to get to the bottom of the thing. As far as spy movies go, this one is ok. I liked it, but it lacked depth of classic spy flicks. Others that I recommend would be Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Falcon/Snowman as mentioned above, and No Way Out.

Fascinating to see Timothy Hutton nearly disappear into this role, using subtleties to create the alcoholic, intellectual persona inside whose head there is a lot of action we don't otherwise see. A thoughtful movie. The meetings held in cocktail lounge/restaurants were interesting.

Aldrich Ames is the CIA Chief of Soviet Counter-Intelligence for a long time, without having any promotion. His Colombian wife Rosario Ames (Elizabeth Peña) is a very greed woman, pressing him for a better life and status. Full of debts, and with low self-esteem, he decides to look for the Soviet Ambassador and offers a list of double agents to him per US$ 50,000.00. The money comes easily and Aldrich does not stop anymore, delivering many American secrets to Soviet Union along eight years. The experienced agent Jeanne Vertefeuille (Joan Plowright) comes to CIA Headquarters to conduct an investigation of the leak of information. With the collapse of the communist system, Aldrich becomes desperate and commits a final serious mistake. This movie-for-cable-TV is very above the average. The story hooks the attention of the viewer, as well as the performance of Timothy Hutton, Elizabeth Peña and Joan Plowright. The screenplay focuses mostly in the family, the financial problem and the lack of perspective in the career of Aldrich Ames, and the viewer may end the movie with some sympathy for him. Maybe this is the flaw in the plot, since the guy indeed was a disgusting traitor of his country for money. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): `Perfil de Um Espião' (`Profile of a Spy')

"Aldrich Ames: Traitor Within" tells the tale of the CIA's most infamous mole who was arrested in 1994 after causing inestimable damage to national security. An obvious small screen product (Showtime), the film does a good job of showing the pressures on Ames; how he rationalized his misdeeds; and how justice finally caught up with him. Sans super spy techo-nonsense, this film portrays people as people; imperfect and human. A solid docudrama for anyone interested in spy stuff.

Watching this movie was like reading the Wikipedia information on Ames. The movie is dry and schematic, without the characters development and no artistic details. It is done in a primitive and even amateurish manner. Having such a great factual materials, its creators produced a boring flop.