Susan Granger’s review of “IN THE COMPANY OF SPIES” (SHOWTIME TV)
On Sunday night (Oct. 24) at 8 PM, Showtime TV presents an original espionage thriller that revolves around the CIA in this contemporary era of increased openness and accountability. Tom Berenger stars as a retired operative who angrily resigned five years ago from his position as head of the East Asian division and has since opened a Thai restaurant in Washington, D.C… He’s brought back into action by his former boss, Ron Silver, to save a colleague who has been captured by the North Korean authorities. Korean Internal Security (KIS) knows the suspected agent possesses valuable knowledge of a covert operation but they don’t know its nature, nor does the CIA. Berenger’s assignment is to find out what the spy knows and to try to save his life. As the story unfolds, a small team of American spies, whose remarkable talents combine the newest technological techniques with old-fashioned infiltration work, reveals that, indeed, something sinister and critical is brewing in North Korea, something that could conceivably threaten the United States. The believable story portrays today’s CIA in a realistic light, which helped the producers become the first film-makers to receive true access to the operational world of the Agency, filming some of the scenes at CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia. But its really the meticulously developed, character-driven script by Roger Towne (“The Natural”), expertly directed by Tim Matheson, that makes this presentation so compelling. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “In the Company of Spies” is a compelling, suspenseful 8. This made-for-TV spy saga is as good or better than any you’ll see at local movie theaters.
