Bridge of Spies Mini Review

Well, things have been crazy, and I haven't had a chance to write a full review for Bridge of Spies.  And with a crowded movie weekend coming up, I figured I would at least write this short review, because this latest film from Steven Spielberg is more than worthy of mention.

What could have easily been a dry and dull "history lesson" turns into a highly entertaining, thrilling, and surprisingly at times dryly witty film that really captivated me.  Set in the late 1950s, Tom Hanks plays attorney James Donovan who is charged with the task to defend in court Rudolf Abel (a wonderful Mark Rylance), who is suspected of being a Soviet spy.  Despite his best efforts, Donovan is unable to avoid a "guilty" verdict from a largely prejudiced courtroom.  However, he does manage to get Abel a prison sentence, rather than the death penalty.  In a parallel plot, an American spy pilot is shot down over Soviet territory.  The CIA, afraid of the information that the pilot may give, decides that a prisoner swap between Abel and the pilot is the best course of action, and Donovan must now make his way to Berlin, and negotiate a plan that can return both prisoners to their proper homes.

The screenplay, credited to Matt Charman, as well as the writing duo of Joel and Ethan Coen, is sprawling in scope.  It starts out as a courtroom drama, touches on the impact Donovan's decision to defend a Soviet spy has on his own reputation and how other people see him, and then ends as an intense spy negotiation thriller.  And yet, despite the constant changing of tones, the movie never once misses a beat.  This is a superbly constructed film, filled with great performances and individual moments that will stay in your mind long after the movie has ended.  In particular, a shot concerning some people attempting to climb the Berlin Wall is one of the most powerful Spielberg has pulled off in a while, and that's saying something.  The movie is filled with smart decisions, such as allowing a lot of scenes to play out silently, and with as little dialogue or background music as possible.  Spielberg lets the actors carry the emotion of each scene, and it works beautifully.

From the performances, to the way the film has been structured, Bridge of Spies is a surprisingly involving piece of work that serves as yet another reminder as to why Spielberg is one of the great living masters of the cinema format.  This is a superb film, filled with drama, tension, and a surprisingly smart sense of humor to itself.  One of the year's best.

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