MOVIE REVIEW
“Bridge of Spies”
Grade: A
Starring Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance and Noah Schnapp. Directed by Steven Spielberg.
Rated PG-13 for some violence and brief strong language. Check listings for theaters. 1 hour, 35 minutes.
Bottom line: A suspenseful espionage tale that's more than a courtroom drama
In “Bridge of Spies,” Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg and the Coen brothers accomplish something startling. Here’s a suspenseful espionage tale where the international intrigue isn’t settled with sharpshooters, anti-aircraft missiles or poison needles (though they all appear with frightening effect) but by shrewd negotiation.
They have reached into the frigid Cold War — a part of it that is inherently undramatic — and pulled up an uplifting, witty plum. The fact-based spy story is set in New York and Berlin during the dire days of the late 1950s and early ’60s. It was a time when Americans and Russians were convinced that a sneak attack from the enemy was at best days away.
Spielberg delivers the era’s retro feel and look with meticulous attention to period detail: bulbous cars driven by large, beefy guys on the way to big, meaty dinners.
Hanks plays James Donovan, a citizen whose name entered the annals of history, though almost nobody is aware of it. Donovan was a crafty corporate attorney in New York City. Since Hanks is a very good guy at playing very good guys, Donovan is wily but never shifty.
When his firm’s senior partners approach him in 1957 to serve the federal government with a pro bono defense, it stirs Donovan’s belief in justice. When they explain that he’ll represent an immigrant accused of being a Russian spy, Donovan declares “I’m an insurance lawyer.” But since it’s geopolitically wise to demonstrate America’s belief in judicial fairness, he accepts the assignment, battling the prosecutor and biased judge like a stubborn so-and-so.
The movie is fine from the start but it rises a notch when Hanks shares the screen with Mark Rylance playing accused Soviet mole Rudolf Abel. Donovan doesn’t befriend Abel, but treats him with full respect, working hard to get him the best judgment possible. Rylance’s muted but deeply emotive performance creates a character who is in his own way as much a polite man of principle as Hanks’ Donovan. Rylance, a Tony and Olivier Award-winner makes Abel dispassionate, mild-mannered and mysteriously fascinating. When he and Hanks work side by side, it’s hard to decide where to look first.
Of course, this is Hanks’ film, giving him the sort of part he excels in, upright but never dull. He perfectly balances Donovan’s commitment to mounting the best possible defense with a cheeky sense of humor. The Coens, the dynamic duo of sardonic cynicism, tone down their usual irony but keep a supply of pithy banter handy. If Atticus Finch could crack a joke once in a while, he’d be in Donovan’s league.
The film is much more than a courtroom drama, intelligently reflecting both the current frost in the air between Washington and Moscow and the American past. It’s a salute to nostalgic, idealistic patriotism that Norman Rockwell, Frank Capra and Jimmy Stewart would applaud. With Franz Kafka.
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