Bridge of Spies (2015)

Bridge Of Spies is a historical drama film starring Tom Hanks, co-written by the Coen brothers, and directed by Steven Spielberg. Even though its subject matter of the Cold War is something I know very little about, I thoroughly enjoyed it and I am now more interested than ever to learn more about it. I rank it among the best of Spielberg's most recent movies.

In a story based on true events, Hanks plays James Donovan (diverging somewhat from reality here) as an insurance lawyer dragged by his firm into defending Rudolf Abel, the accused Soviet spy played exquisitely by British stage acting legend Mark Rylance. Against this backdrop, the international blue touch paper is about to be lit by the shooting down over Russia of Gary Powers (Austin Stowell from "Whiplash") in his U-2 spy plane (sorry – "article"). Donovan becomes instrumental in unofficially negotiating on behalf of the US government the release of Powers in East Berlin. The deal is jeopardized by his boy-scout tendencies to also want to help another US captive Frederic Pryor (Will Rogers).

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Tom Hanks is solid and believable as the fish-out-of-water lawyer, albeit that the role is played with a large spoonful of patriotic American sugar as Donovan trumpets about the importance of the constitution over the lynch-mob mentality of the general public. Alan Alda – great to see again on the big screen – channels his best Hawkeye-style exasperation as Donovan's boss, looking for a clean and quick conviction. Spielberg does an exceptional job of condensing and cross-cutting these events. Budgeted at $40 million, "Bridge of Spies" looks authentic with its multiple locations in American and Europe. Indisputably, "Bridge of Spies" couldn't have been produced during the Cold War because objectivity would have been harshly compromised. Spielberg's historical reenactment is relevant because contemporary American democracy faces similar challenges.

Aside from being a strong character piece, Bridge of Spies has a different look then you might expect from the more whimsical Spielberg. This fits right along his darker material as most of the movie is shown is greyer tones and surprisingly gets greyer once the story shifts to East Germany. With that said, the recreation of a Cold War Berlin looks great, especially when you see Tom Hanks riding the train to the other side where the wall shows what the difference is in one moment (which I won't give away). Bridge of Spies is guaranteed one of my favorite movies of 2015 and deserves at least one watch from not just cold war fanatics or even history fanatics, but from the mainstream crowd. Bridge of Spies will get least start one conversation going once the end credits roll.

8/10·IMDb
92%·Rotten Tomatoes
81%·Metacritic
5/5·The Guardian
9/10 Verdict