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BRIDGE OF SPIES
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Screenplay by Mat Charman; Ethan and Joel Coen
Starring Tom Hanks; Mark Rylance; and Amy Ryan
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An American lawyer/insurance man James Donovan (Hanks) is recruited by the CIA during the Cold War, to defend a Soviet spy, and then to help rescue a pilot detained in the Soviet Union by making a spy swap.
Well lets be honest.....what we have here....one of the best directors ever in Spielberg......one of the best actors ever in Hanks.....one of the best stage actors ever in Rylance....and the Coen brothers involved in the script. How can it be bad?
This is a very good film it takes you right to the heart of the cold war. Hanks is like a Jimmy Stewart character fighting for America and rights for all. Then there is Rylance. He shows up here with two Olivier awards and three Tony awards and, lets face it, stole this film out from under Hanks. He is so soft spoken he pulls you in. So calm and so unfazed, you think he is up to something but in reality, he is just calm and unfazed, it makes you laugh a couple times. Whenever Hanks and Rylance are going one on one in a scene you cannot help to feel this is a moment!!! It is an acting class!! They are the top.
This film is close to a perfect film. Except....editing!!! 2 hours and 20 minutes!!! And it feels like, 2 hours and 20 minutes. Yes, The Martian is about that long but there was some movement and some action. This film is a talky and it is pretty much 2 hours and 10 minutes of deciding and negotiations, deciding and negotiations, deciding and negotiations. Then 10 minutes of a tense prisoner exchange. Yes, I know it is a true story and they want to get everything in because it is true, but still more editing was very much needed. This falls on the shoulders of Spielberg and his long time editor Michael Kahn. They have to control it a bit. I mean at one point the story ends I got up and realized NOOO it has another end!! I do not know if this film is the best film of the year because of that.
Please, I do not want to push you away from one of the better films of the year, so please go!! I just wanted to point out what keeps this from being a perfect film, which other reviewers out there may not want to point out because...well it is Spielberg.
Tom Hanks Best Actor Oscar Nod....almost a lock.
Mark Rylance Best Supporting Actor Nod and no doubt the front runner.
Spielberg Best Director....almost a lock (But right now I lean toward Ridley Scott in the lead)
Chairman and Coen Brothers Best Screenplay Nod.
Best Picture Nod.
4 1/2 stars out of 5 for this intriguing film. Screenwriting...Direction...The Look.....The Acting...James Donovan is a true American hero.
OOOH Amy Ryan love her and is so good here in the second small role she is in this week (Spies and Goosebumps this week).
Well from the shadows as always thanks for your time.
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