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CIA director on Bourne story: "You couldn't make this stuff up"

posted 9 years ago by Roonil_Wazlib_97
5 replies | jump to latest

Spoilers here.

At the CIA meeting at the start of the movie, we hear the Bourne Supremacy's story recapped by CIA director Ezra Kramer as follows:

So we have a dirty section chief who kills Bourne's girl. Bourne comes back for revenge, tapes Abbott's confession, and Abbott commits suicide. Now Bourne's gunning for us. You couldn't make this stuff up.

Then he says "Bourne is on the run, he's dangerous..." and gives instructions to go after him.

First, why would Bourne be "gunning for them"? He's been gunning for the source of Marie's death: Abbott. He's found it, got his revenge, and sent a tape to the CIA, which he didn't need to do, which doesn't sound like he has intentions to go after the CIA.

Second, why does Ezra Kramer say "You couldn't make this stuff up"? So he doesn't believe the story? Why, isn't it all on tape?

I felt the plot could have perfectly been set in motion with the Guardian reporter bringing the CIA and Bourne back at odds with eachother. There was no need for this meeting, which didn't feel very believable.

[–] sanddragon939 9 years ago

"You couldn't make this stuff up" is an expression which in this case is meant to be a wink and nod at how much like a movie or novel Bourne's dramatic actions lately have been...naturally, the daily world of the CIA is no where near as dramatic as shown in a spy thriller film and this was just a fun nod at that!

As for why Kramer thinks Bourne is gunning for them...well, that's his assumption, which Landy does question. Its actually pretty reasonable, realistically speaking. There's a rogue agent out there, who's very existence can expose an illegal black ops program, and who has every reason to gun after the Agency that ruined his life. Going after this agent makes sense.

Formerly sn939

[–] clark_gillies 9 years ago

Agree.

Since Bourne was fished out of the sea at the start of Identity its just been one thing after the other..... the discovery of a black-op's organisation directly within the CIA.... a CIA agent on the run for 2 years (who has beat up Swiss Police....Stormed a US Consulate...attacked Italian police and a US Agent....illegally entered Russia and brought central Moscow to a stand still)..... a CIA chief killed in the middle of the street in Paris.... a CIA director found to be embezzling money from the Russians as well as using Treadstone for his own personal gains.... list just goes on and on.

All the while, Bourne is still on the run and nobody has a clue where he is..... Kramer is just going by his instincts that this has been something that has been brewing for 2 full years and always comes back to their door.

[–] Roonil_Wazlib_97 9 years ago

Right; good point about the "You couldn't make this stuff up" line. When I watched, I thought it meant he didn't believe the story he was summarizing was true.

Re: Bourne gunning for the CIA... Kramer's rationale is fine but I think Landy's words should be convincing: if he was after them he'd have gone to the press. Kramer's reply "Maybe he still will" is unconvincing because why would Bourne go to both the press and the CIA?

[–] clark_gillies 9 years ago

Doesn't he not respond with "expect everything.... plan for the worst!".... probably Jason is not a threat, but he has been a thorn in the side of the CIA for 2 years and probably can not take the chance.

[–] Neuronhead 9 years ago

"You couldn't make this stuff up"

Yeah, I think I sniffed a bit of extra air out of my nose when I heard that. I may have even laughed out loud slightly.

I choose to believe what I was programmed to believe