"BRIDGE OF SPIES" (2015) Review

"BRIDGE OF SPIES" (2015) Review

Several years ago, I read an article in which Steven Spielberg had expressed a desire to direct a James Bond movie. It has been over a decade since the director had made this comment. And as far as I know, he has only directed two movies that had anything to do with spies - the 2005 movie"MUNICH", which co-starred the current Bond actor, and his latest film, "BRIDGE OF SPIES". 

Like "MUNICH", "BRIDGE OF SPIES" is a spy tale with a strong historical background. Based upon Giles Whittell's 2010 book, "Bridge of Spies: A True Story of the Cold War", the movie centered around the 1960 U-2 Incident and the efforts of attorney James B. Donovan to negotiate the exchange of U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers for the captured Soviet spy Rudolf Abel - whom Donovan had unsuccessfully defended from charges of espionage against the United States. Although Whittell's book focused upon a larger cast of characters involved in the U-2 incident and the famous spy exchange, the screenwriters - Matt Charman, along with Joel and Ethan Coen - and Spielberg tightened their focus upon Donovan's role in the incident.

It occurred to me that in the past fifteen years, I can only think of five Steven Spielberg-directed movies that I have truly liked. Five out of eleven movies. Hmmmm . . . I do not know if that is good or bad. Fortunately, one of those movies that I managed to embrace was this latest effort, "BRIDGE OF SPIES". I enjoyed it very much. I would not rank it at the same level as "MUNICH" or "LINCOLN". But I thought it was a pretty solid movie for a director of Spielberg's caliber. The latter and the movie's screenwriters made the intelligent choice to focus on one particular person involved in the entire incident - James B. Donovan. If they had attempted to cover every aspect of Whittell's book, Spielberg would have been forced to release this production as a television miniseries.

Yet, "BRIDGE OF SPIES" still managed to cover a great deal of the events surrounding the shooting of Powers' U-2 spy plane and the exchange that followed. This is due to the screenwriters' decision to start the movie with the arrest of Rudolf Abel in 1957. More importantly, the narrative went into details over the arrest, the U.S. decision to put Abel on trial, their choice of Donovan as his attorney and the trial itself. In fact, the movie covered all of this before Powers was even shot down over the Soviet Union. The screenwriters and Spielberg also went out of their way to cover the circumstances of the arrest and incarceration of American graduate student Frederic Pryor, who was vising his East Berlin girlfriend, when he was arrested. And that is because the writers had the good sense to realize - like Whittell before them - that the incidents surrounding the arrests of both Abel and Pryor were just as important as Powers being shot down by the Soviets. 

What I best liked about "BRIDGE OF SPIES" was its ambiguous portrayal of the nations involved in the entire matter - the United States, the Soviet Union and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). No country was spared. Both the United States and the Soviet Union seemed bent upon not only projecting some image of a wounded nation to the world. Both engaged in sham trials for Abel and Powers that left a bad taste in my mouth. And the movie portrayed East Germany as some petulant child pouting over the fact that neither of the other two countries were taking it seriously. Which would account for that country's vindictive treatment toward Pryor. And neither the U.S. or the Soviets seemed that concerned over Pryor's fate - especially the U.S. Watching the movie finally made me realize how the Cold War now strikes me as irrelevant and a waste of time.

As much as I enjoyed "BRIDGE OF SPIES", the movie seemed to lack a sense of urgency that struck me as odd for this kind of movie. And I have to blame Spielberg. His direction seemed a bit . . . well, a bit too relaxed for a topic about the Cold War at its most dangerous. Many might point out that"BRIDGE OF SPIES" is basically a historic drama in which anyone familiar with the U-2 incident would know how it ends. Yet Both "MUNICH" and"LINCOLN", along with Ron Howard's "APOLLO 13" and Roger Donaldson's 2000 film, "THIRTEEN DAYS", seemed to possess that particular sharp urgency, despite being historic dramas. But for "BRIDGE OF SPIES", Spielberg's direction seemed just a tad too relaxed - with the exception of a few scenes. One last problem I had with "BRIDGE OF SPIES" was the ending. Remember . . . this is Steven Spielberg, a director notorious for dumping a surprising layer of saccharine on an otherwise complex tale. This saccharine was on full display in the movie's finale sequence that featured Donovan's return to the United States . . . especially the scene in which he is riding an El train to his home in the Bronx and his family's discovery of his activities in Eastern Europe. It was enough saccharine to make me heave an exasperated sigh.

Speaking of Donovan's El Train ride back to his neighborhood, there was one aspect of it that I found impressive. I must admit how cinematographer Janusz Kamiński, a longtime collaborator of Spielberg's since the early 1990s, allowed the camera to slowly sweep over Donovan's Bronx neighborhood from an elevated position. I found the view rather rich and detailed. In fact, Kamiński provided a similar sweeping bird eye's view of the Berlin Wall and the two "enclaves" that bordered it. Another aspect of the movie's production values that impressed me were Adam Stockhausen's production designs. I thought he did an outstanding job in re-creating both New York City and Berlin of the late 1950s and early 1960s. And his work was ably assisted by Rena DeAngelo and Bernhard Henrich's set decorations; along with the art direction team of Marco Bittner Rosser, Scott Dougan, Kim Jennings and Anja Müller.

The performances featured in "BRIDGE OF SPIES" struck me as pretty solid. I thought Amy Ryan, Alan Alda, Jesse Plemmons, Michael Gaston, Will Rogers and Austin Stowell did great work. But for my money, the best performances came from lead Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Dakin Matthews and Sebastian Koch. Dakin Matthews has always been a favorite character actor of mine. I have always found his performances rather colorful. However, I would have to say that his portrayal of Federal Judge Byers, who seemed exasperated by Donovan's attempt to give Abel a fair trial, struck me as a lot more subtle and effective than many of his past roles. Sebastian Koch gave a very interesting performance as East German attorney Wolfgang Vogel, who seemed intensely determined that his country play a major role in the spy swap and not be cast aside. Superficially, Tom Hanks' role as James Donovan seemed like the typical "boy scout" role he had especially became known for back in the 1990s. And in some ways, it is. But I really enjoyed how the actor conveyed Donovan's increasing disbelief over his country's questionable handling of Abel's trial and his sense that he is a fish-out-of-water in a divided Berlin. However, I feel that the best performance came from Mark Rylance, who gave a deliciously subtle, yet entertaining portrayal of Soviet spy Rudolf Abel. What I liked about Rylance's performance is that he did not portray Abel as some kind of stock KGB agent, but a subtle and intelligent man, who seemed clearly aware of the more unpleasant side of both American and Soviet justice.

I might as well be frank. I do not think I would ever regard "BRIDGE OF SPIES" as one of Steven Spielberg's best movies. I thought the movie lacked a sense of urgency and sharpness that nearly robbed the film of any suspension . . . despite it being a historical drama. But, I still believe it was a first-rate film. I also thought that Spielberg and the movie's screenwriters did a great job in conveying as many details as possible regarding the U-2 incident and what led to it. The movie also featured a first-rate cast led by the always incomparable Tom Hanks. Overall, "BRIDGE OF SPIES" proved that Spielberg has yet to lose his touch.