So there we were in Oregon, staying with Otterbro and The Mermaid. Nice relaxing day, and Mr. Otter, the Mermaid, and I decided to spend the evening watching this movie on their big ol' flat-screen TV. What a treat!

Not only is their movie-room an excellent venue for kickin' back and catching a flick, but this was a really good one. We were all still discussing it the next morning.

Matt Damon is recruited to Skull and Bones in Yale, and ends up in the early CIA; there is a suspicion of a leak during the Bay of Pigs. He follows leads while the viewer sees flashbacks of his life and the events that have led him to the present.

I think Matt Damon is one of the best actors around, and he is certainly in top form here; showing a combination of starry-eyed idealism that slowly gives way to a disillusionment with the way things are done, and a detachment from everyone that tries to get close to him; he is absolutely wonderful here.

A good film, well made, painstakingly filmed so that different segments look right for the different times, full of things to think about. Rent this one or just buy it, you won't be sorry.