BRIDGE OF SPIES (2015) MOVIE NEWS & REVIEW

bridge of spies (2015) movie

Genre              |   Drama Thriller

Classification   |   M

Running time   |   142 minutes

Released         |   22 October 2015

cast

Mark Rylance ... Rudolf Abel
Tom Hanks ... James B. Donovan
Alan Alda ... Thomas Watters Jr.
Jesse Plemons ... Joe Murphy
​Austin Stowell ... Francis Gary Powers
Amy Ryan ... Mary Donovan

director

Steven Spielberg

writer

Matt Charman ... (written by) and
Ethan Coen ... (written by) &
Joel Coen ... (written by)

cinematographer

Janusz Kaminski ​

music

Thomas Newman ​

film editor

​Michael Kahn

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box office result

Worldwide               $165,478,348     

Australia                 $​​​5,432,428

North America        $​​​​72,313,754

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the best dialogue

​​James Donovan: I have a mandate to serve you. Nobody else does. Quite frankly, everybody else has an interest in sending you to the electric chair.
Rudolf Abel: All right...
James Donovan: You don't seem alarmed.
Rudolf Abel: Would it help?

James Donovan: You have been charged with three counts and nineteen overt acts. Conspiracy to transmit United States defence and atomic secrets to the Soviet Union, conspiracy to gather secrets, and failing to register as a foreign agent.
Rudolf Abel: Do many foreign agents register?

​Title Card: Following the successful conclusion of the Powers-Abel exchange, James Donovan was asked by President Kennedy to undertake further negotiations on behalf of the U.S. In the summer of 1962, he was sent to Cuba to discuss with Fidel Castro the terms of the release of 1,113 prisoners held after the Bay of Pigs invasion. When Donovan finished negotiations, he had secured the release of 9,703 men, women, and children.

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BRIDGE OF SPIES (2015) MOVIE IMAGES

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BRIDGE OF SPIES (2015) STORY SYNOPSIS

​During the Cold War, the Soviet Union captures U.S. pilot Francis Gary Powers after shooting down his U-2 spy plane. Sentenced to 10 years in prison, Powers' only hope is New York lawyer James Donovan (Tom Hanks), recruited by a CIA operative to negotiate his release. Donovan boards a plane to Berlin, hoping to win the young man's freedom through a prisoner exchange. If all goes well, the Russians would get Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance), the convicted spy who Donovan defended in court.

BRIDGE OF SPIES (2015) MOVIE REVIEW

Reviewed by Mark Geraghty   |   Review date 19 October 2015
Pop ​Movee Rating ⭐⭐⭐½

Steven Spielberg's BRIDGE OF SPIES uses the paranoia of 1950s McCarthy era anti-communist politics to make the point that no matter what side of the fence, there are always good men prepared to fight for higher ideals. There’s no better actor in Hollywood than Tom Hanks to fill the role of the virtuous man, who in this particular case was real life insurance lawyer James Donovan, who was “drafted” by the US Government to defend Rudolf Abel, an accused Soviet Spy in 1957. BRIDGE OF SPIES is not Spielberg’s most innovative or dramatically-charged film, but it is entertaining for the most part, as the veteran Director presents Joel & Ethan Cohen’s screenplay (with help from Matt Charman) in straight forward manner that tells the story of Donovan’s exploits on behalf of his government as both lawyer and negotiator.

The film’s opening scenes outline the events leading to the arrest of Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance), who at face-value is a mild-mannered artist, but in reality is a Soviet spy. The story chooses to make this point early, as Abel is seen handling coded messages. The real Rudolf Abel was actually the assumed identity of Willie Fisher, a British-born Soviet citizen. Fisher was never acknowledged as a spy by the Soviet Union, but was employed by the KGB and lectured on his imprisonment upon his return to the Soviet Union. Abel’s case is handed to Donovan by his colleague Thomas Watters (Alan Alda), who is the senior partner at their New York law firm. Defending Abel is viewed as a thankless but necessary task by everyone involved in the case, with presiding Judge Byers (Dakin Matthews), CIA representative Hoffman (Scott Shepherd) and even Watters telling Donovan to go through the motions so sentencing can take place.

Donovan achieves a small victory by convincing Judge Byers to impose a jail sentence instead of the death sentence. In a scene that may or may not have occurred in reality, Donovan pleads Abel’s case at Byers’ home, imploring him to consider all the contingencies of keeping Abel alive. This scene sets the plot for the remainder of the film in motion, as Donovan’s prediction comes true when U2 pilot Francis Gary Powers (Austin Stowell) is shot down over Russian airspace in 1960. Donovan, having demonstrated his capability during the Abel case, is brought in by CIA Director Allen Dulles (Peter McRobbie) to negotiate the exchange of Powers for Abel. The stakes are raised when Dulles informs Donovan that he will not be working on behalf of the US Government, but as a private citizen and the deal will need to take place in the recently walled-off Communist-controlled East Berlin.

Throughout BRIDGE OF SPIES 141 minute running time, there are a lot of great scenes where the Cohen’s writing skill and Spielberg’s visual talents combine to deliver a compelling, authentic depiction of what the Cold War era. The problem with this story being told in feature film format is that there is never enough time to explore the characters completely; leaving the viewer feeling as though Spielberg is just scratching the surface of the events and themes that he wants to explore. This is especially relevant in the case of Rudolf Abel. The character is most present in the first 40 minutes of the film and Mark Rylance’s performance is so good (given so little dialogue) that the whole movie could have been dedicated to his case and the relationship that developed between him and Donovan. Likewise, the East Berlin segment of the film. Donovan’s efforts to negotiate the exchange of Powers brings him into contact with an array of Soviet and East German characters who could have easily sustained another story all on their own. Almost in an aside, Donovan manages to negotiate the release of detained US student Frederic Pryor (Will Rogers) from the East Germans as part of his deal to get Powers back from the Soviets. Donovan’s dealings with both sides come down to one final exchange between him and a junior officer from the East German Justice Ministry, but the reality of the situation could not have been as simple and it’s this surface-level depiction of events that are frustrating because there feels as though there is so much more to show.

Technically, the usual Spielberg collaborators are in place to bring the Director’s vision to the screen. Janusz Kaminski provides Spielberg with two distinct lighting palettes, serving up a clear, crisp view of the United States and a decidedly-more muted and hazy-around-the-edges look for Berlin in 1962. Despite the surface-level exploration of the characters, the film’s pacing is not frenetic. Editor Michael Khan puts the film together in an economical fashion, but pays special attention to presenting Hanks and Rylance in the best possible way. Rylance, who is an acclaimed stage actor but hasn’t done a lot of film work, will come into contention during the Awards season for his portrayal of Abel, as he achieves so much with so little it’s hard not to admire his performance. Thomas Newman handles music duties, but his score underwhelms, as he makes Spielberg’s visual allusions to US democracy a little too obvious with his musical cues.

BRIDGE OF SPIES is a good film, but it’s not a great film. The timing of its release feels like it’s a movie that has been made specifically to garner critical attention. While it harbours admirable intentions, some viewers may find the surface-level exploration of characters, events and ideas frustrating. Tom Hanks is good, but his portrayal of James Donovan is not an Award-worthy performance. Mark Rylance is the stand-out as Rudolf Abel. Spielberg has definitely delivered better films and, despite the overall quality of the production, adapting the events surrounding the exchange of Powers & Ryor for Abel proves to be one bridge too far!

BRIDGE OF SPIES (2015) USEFUL LINKS

Bridge of Spies (film) - Wikipedia
Bridge of Spies (2015) - IMDb
Bridge of Spies (2015) - Rotten Tomatoes

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