The film tells the story about a retired CIA operative working with a rookie FBI agent to solve the murder of a US senator caused by a Soviet assassin.

Senator Dennis Darden walks out of the door, he is approached by an assassin from behind who slits his throat and escapes.

Meanwhile, a Russian terrorist and murderer, Bozlovski, has entered the U.S. As the investigation deepens, Paul warns Ben to pull out, due to the possibility of harm not only to himself but his family.

When Ben reveals that he has plans to return to Russia after this is over, Paul tries to convince him to stay in the FBI and with the family he has grown to love.

As the only witness, FBI agent Ben relays the incident to his superiors and claims that Bozlovski was Cassius, thereby securing Paul's reputation and recognizing his heroism.

The film holds a 21% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 52 reviews, with an average score of 4/10.

The website's critics consensus reads, "Riddled with hollow characters and ludicrous plotting, The Double just isn't worth the trouble.

"[1] Stephanie Merry of The Washington Post gave note of Brandt's scripting of the story, saying that "questionable motives and unbelievable decisions are relatively small potatoes compared with the Sputnik-size plotholes."

"[2] Randy Cordova of The Arizona Republic criticized Brandt's direction and screenwriting for lacking any "menace or mystery to the proceedings" and its two main leads' characters for having no chemistry and feeling by-the numbers, saying that, "With its convoluted plot and fading stars, The Double feels like a straight-to-DVD feature that somehow sneaked onto the big screen.

He felt that Brandt and Haas waste their premise by setting it up like "a typical episode of any basic-cable action series" saying that "while it holds a few surprises, the twists feel writerly, not organic.

"[4] Roger Ebert highlighted Gere's "subtle catlike body language" in his performance that displays his well-worn screen presence but was critical of Brandt and Haas's script containing thriller clichés and "familiar action-movie tropes" compared to their previous effort 3:10 to Yuma, concluding that it "doesn't approach it in terms of quality.