Director: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Tom Hanks, Eve Hewson, Amy Ryan, Alan Alda, Peter McRobbie, Billy Magnussen, Austin Stowell, Domenick Lombardozzi, Mark Rylance, Michael Gaston, Sebastian Koch, Scott Shephard, Dakin Matthews
Rating: 12A
Running Time: 141 mins
Release Date: November 27th, 2015
The ever formidable team of Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks return to deliver a nail bitingly tense Cold War thriller that highlights Spielberg’s perfectionism. BRIDGE OF SPIES is a return to form for one of the most influential directors around.
No one can do Spielberg the way Spielberg does. Or, better yet, he is the master of the Blockbuster, the ever present auteur who brought cinema audiences long standing classics like JAWS, INDIANA JONES, CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND and a modern favorite of mine; THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN. With BRIDGE OF SPIES he delivers another rousing thriller out of a tale that, in other inexperienced hands, could of been a near two and a half hour slog through several scenes of people talking. But Spielberg spins this tale into a very real thriller with a strong emotional human tale in it’s core.
For a war film, it’s more reminiscent of SCHINDLER’S LIST than it is of SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, as the film avoids any action whatsoever, instead focusing on the real fight that went on during the Cold War; the fight over information and who knew what.
The ever dependable Tom Hanks plays James B. Donavan, an American lawyer hired to defend Rudolf Abel, an arrested Soviet spy. Soon, Donavan finds himself invested in Abel’s case and trying to help him as much as he can, much to the chagrin of everyone else in America. Hanks has played this role plenty of times over his career, but that doesn’t negate the fact that he’s just so good at it, investing Donavan with charisma, likability and a never ending need to do the right thing.
It’s easy to root for him and especially Abel, the two characters generating a touching but never forced friendship. Mark Rylance, who plays Abel, gives a very subdued and quiet performance, letting his facial expressions speak for themselves. It’s a wonderfully non showy performance, one that I wouldn’t be surprised see’s some attention come awards season. His Abel is a delight to watch, and his and Hanks chemistry the glue of the film.
In BRIDGE OF SPIES, the whole cast get their own moment in the spotlight, from Alan Alda as Donovan’s boss to Billy Magnussen as Donavan’s put upon PA. Particularly memorable is Scott Shephard as Hoffman, a CIA agent helping Donavan. Despite one scene that feels out of a place, an unnecessarily ‘action packed’ plane explosion that is so jarring with the rest of the film it immediately distracted me, the rest of the film is a thrilling study of a tense time when it seemed like war could break out at any moment.
Despite the BRIDGE OF SPIES’ long running time, the film doesn’t drag, in fact the film is brisk, flying through the events so quickly and each scene exceedingly tenser than before that you only catch your breath at the end of the film, exactly as Hank’s character flops onto a bed, exhausted from a long trip to Berlin. It’s here that you don’t realise just how invested you are into the story until both Donovan and the film allow you to rest, and the film hits you with an emotional end that’s been building since the film begun. It’s a well deserved emotional end that is 100% Spielberg and reminds us just why he is one of the best directors around.
Verdict
