Aldrich Ames: Agente doble

I like a good spy from time to time and since I kinda liked THE FALCON AND THE SNOWMAN I knew that one day or another I should have watched ALDRICH AMES TRAITOR WITHIN. Well, last June I finally saw it but it wasn't on the level of that other movie.

Aldrich Ames (Timothy Hutton) is a CIA operative that has problems at work because of his alcoholism and trouble in being awake, and in fact he is far from receiving a promotion. But he is also smarter than his cohorts and becomes dismayed when his ideas are put aside to make room for decisions based on policy. As Ames has to sell secrets to the Russians in the waning days of Cold War, the CIA and the FBI in 1993 investigate on Ames through electronic surveillance for tracking his movements, up until he was found, arrested and forced to serve a life sentence (and the real Ames is still serving it to this day).

Hutton, Joan Plowright and Elizabeth Pena did their best with the average material given. But what ruined the movie for me was that despite it's based on a true story in some points the lead's actions surpassed credibility and in some points it was hard to follow. If there was some action and the characters were more involving, I probably would have liked it more.

...they got the date he was arrested right. If you really want to find out factual information on this subject, try searching for press releases. This would have made a good story if it were fiction...but unfortunately they didn't bother to do any research (officials at the Russian embassy DO NOT have secure lines into CIA headquarters). This movie isn't worth anyone's time.

This movie follows the story of Aldrich Ames, the most dangerous spy in the history of the CIA. It stars Timothy Hutton, who also played a spy in The Falcon and the Snowman. It was very interesting to see how he fell into the life of a spy and how he was able to avoid detection for some 8 years. It was also interesting to see how the CIA works from the inside, assuming that this movie is somewhat accurate in its depection. Overall, I would recommend this movie especially if you are someone who likes spy movies or movies about government ineptitude.

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.

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')