★ 4

– Neil Mendonca

Duration: 2h22m

Genre: Drama, History, Thriller

Starring: Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance

Director: Steven Spielberg

Year Released: 2015



The more I watch Tom Hanks movies, the more I come to the conclusion that he is a one-trick pony: he shines through in a distinct style of movie, specifically one with a very VERY good script but where the pace is very slow (see Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close). Calling him a one-trick pony is no criticism, though. Hanks is so good at what he does, so doing similar films is not a bad thing.

The movie tells the real-life story of the U-2 incident during the Cold War, where an American spy plane was shot down in USSR and the pilot (Francis Gary Powers) was captured. It follows the narrative of how a lawyer, James Donovan (Hanks) secured not just the captured pilot (Austin Stowell), but also Frederic Pryor (Will Rogers), an American student imprisoned in East Germany, for Rudolf Abel (Rylance – he won the Oscar for best supporting actor, a very deserving award for him), a convicted Soviet spy.

Bridge of Spies is no different to the archetypal Hanks film, who, as with pretty much all his other movies, was phenomenal. He’s like a good glass of wine: gets better with age. Up until reviewing this movie, I was never a huge fan of Hanks, because (save Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close) I felt that his movies were boring and slow. After watching this, I went back and watched more of his movies and I started to appreciate him more. Hanks is a remarkable actor, and his two Academy Awards do not do him justice.

There are two reasons for why I knew the script for Bridge of Spies would be good. The first, as I said above, was the presence of Hanks. Movies with scripts similar to Bridge of Spies can go awfully wrong if the characters are played by the wrong people. The lack of fighting and the lack of true action means that it can be easy for one to fall asleep and can result in the movie being underappreciated. Hanks’ movies are catered for a specific audience, as opposed to other movies that are catered to a general audience. That’s the beauty of Bridge of Spies. It’s lack of adherence to a general audience gave it a foundation for experimentation, and the experiments worked out well. Many Steven Spielberg movies (more on Spielberg later) have given an impression of playing it safe, and while it has worked, sometimes taking those calculated risks elevate a movie from good to great

The second reason for why I expected big things from the Bridge of Spies script is because of who wrote it. Any movie written by the Coen Brothers should automatically be put on the Oscar ballot for best script. The brothers wrote the scripts for Unbroken, Fargo (the movie) and the Naked Men, among others, and have 2 screenplay Oscars to their name and six more nominations. Before I watch a movie, there are three things I look at: who is acting in it, who is the director and who wrote the script. I was very excited when I saw the writers, and for good reason; They are undoubtedly two of the best in the modern day business. Script-writing is a skill that needs natural talent, and both the brothers have it in abundance (#Genes). The dry, witty humour on show throughout the movie is a signature of theirs, as well as how most – if not all – of the dialogues had a very authentic feel to it, as opposed to a filmy feel.

To think Steven Spielberg directed this movie just shows how diverse he is as a director or producer. I have always associated recent Spielberg movies with action (the latest Transformers, Jurassic World), and Bridge of Spies reminded me that he can direct or produce movies of other genres too. I’ve always been a huge fan of Spielberg, and this movie further strengthens his standing as one of the best directors of all time. He has a real knack for choosing the right cast for a specific movie, and while he has had a few movies where things just did not add up, more often than not he makes the right decisions. After watching a Spielberg-directed/produced movie, there is a tendency to leave the cinema with a feel-good factor, as if the hours you spent in the cinema were spent wisely.

The music and soundtrack throughout the movie was some of the best I’ve heard in a Western movie. I say Western movie because, despite my love-hate relationship with it, it will take a few more generations before the soundtrack from a Western movie comes anywhere close to that from a Bollywood movie. The soundtrack choices was spot-on at all points, and was not over-the-top, something that often occurs.

There was one major theme throughout the movie that I really didn’t like, and that was the portrayal of both the spies. Look, at the end of the day, both are spies, both are doing their jobs. In the eyes of the Americans, Powers was doing right and Abel wrong, and in the eyes of the Soviets, Abel was doing right and Powers wrong. Both sets of intelligence agencies would undoubtedly wish to get as much information as possible from the opposing spy. It’s not a secret that forms of torture occur in just about every nation of the world. Yet throughout Bridge of Spies, there was a negative portrayal of the way the Russians treated Powers and throughout Abel’s ordeal, it was as if the CIA treated him like a VIP. I’m about 99.99% sure that was not what had actually happened.

Another thing I didn’t like was the amount of sentimentality throughout the movie. There were many moments in the movie where Spielberg could have toned down the sentimentality level. An example is when he went to East Germany and met Abel’s family, and how the wife broke down when she found out Abel was not physically with Donovan. Yes, it’s a natural reaction, but the way it was portrayed was over the top. There were a few more, but I won’t spoil the movie for you. The scene where the exchange took place could have been shortened, but at the same time, the suspense level may not have been as high.

Like other Hanks movies, Bridge of Spies is not for everyone. However, I cannot stress the strength of the script: It’s one of the best in recent times. Yes, like a lot of Hanks’ movies, Bridge of Spies will undoubtedly be divided amongst moviegoers as the pace of the movie can be excruciatingly slow at times. Going back to it being not for everyone, people who love history will have a field day watching this, as will people who enjoy a good script. People who are more into Mad Max-esque movies may not enjoy it as much but I implore you to watch it. Overall, a great movie. The Spielberg-Hanks duo, as always, were fabulous, cementing their place as one of the best director/producer-actor duos in the film industry.

“Everyone deserves a defense. Everyone matters.”

– James B. Donovan

Acting: 4/5

Script and Screenplay: 5/5

Cinematography: 3/5

Music: 4/5

Editing: 4/5