It's rather suspenseful, and the shootout in the Guggenheim is remarkable, but the master conspiracy in this film is almost too big to swallow - it smells a little bit like last-minute pandering in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis - and there a few too many contrivances that keep the story moving (chance meetings with suspects, a driver who for some reason tries to run over Naomi Watts BUT NOT her partner Clive Owen, etc.). Watts's character has a husband and son, too, which leads to Owen eventually hinting to Watts that she should get out of the chase, and while reasonable, for some reason this scene really bothered me. She, like Owen, knew what she signed up for, but she was dumped from the plot and given short shrift in the end, a one-line kiss-off over which the final credits were running. It makes me think that adding her - the only female character, come to think of it - was a studio executive's insertion for audience reasons... a second hint at last-minute changes. This is wild speculation, but I just found something off about this movie, like it was either a lazy Bond/Bourne rip-off that was scooped up and edited for its financially opportune moment or a really smart political thriller that was watered down for the masses. There were great parts, but as a whole the movie never fully committed to the size of its ambition, and as a result the pieces just didn't hang together. Great shootout, though; for better or for worse, it was really easy to lose the plot after a scene that enthralling.

Clive Owen and Naomi Watts are two of my favorites and together they helped me enjoy this film. A good hefty dose of action and some excellent thriller type moments as suspense combine for a good smart movie.