Remake of the 1975 Robert Redford / Faye Dunaway cold war classic, "Three Days of the Condor." Based also on the novel (1974) "Six Days of the Condor" by James Grady.
The original is a taught, tense, smart, espionage film. Sure, it's a bit dated, but it still stands up. It was an interesting decision by Syndey Pollack and James Grady to shorten the original "Six Days" to three and keep the action going(and the total film time) down.
This new version is a whopping TEN HOURS long. The first 2 episodes get things going nicely. Episode 2 includes some seriously rapey/creepy interactions between two of the main characters. After that, the show kind of falls apart. There are some excellent characters, especially (paunchy) Brendon Fraier's Nathan Fowler and William Hurt's Bob Partridge. The adorable Katherine Cunningham plays Kathy Hale (who can't get a date, despite having a seriously high paying job as an attorney and living in one of the most expensive areas of Georgetown, and being just so darn cute!). And let's not forget Leen Lubany's Gabrielle Joubert; the Isreali/Arabi, psychopath, super-assassin (and nymphomaniac).
The plot is a cool, change the world, conspiracy-within-conspiracy-within-conspiracy by the CIA-within-the CIA, etc... When the actual plan is finally explained, you might not want it to be foiled! But there are plenty of other problems with the series after episode 2. It DRAGS. OMG does it drag and drag and drag on for way too many hours. During this time you will come to realize that most of the CIA super-geniuses are, in actuality, big, dumb lummoxes. You will also come to recognize the main character as a true ass-hole with very few (if any) redeeming qualities.
Finally, it (sort of) closes with an open ending, making me think they will be considering making a season 2.
My overall rating for this bloated, under-intellectual, paranoid culture, espionage series? Two out Five stars... It's a C (or a C-).
Go watch the original. It's a classic. Max Von Sydow even overshadows Redford! Oh, and at least in the original they explain that the character's CIA "codename" is Condor. They don't even do that in this remake.
If you need espionage series that work and are smart-- AMC's "Little Drummer Girl" or "The Night Manager." For lighter spy fair, there is Amazon Prime's "Jack Ryan."
