The most wonderful things about this movie are all of the things I was not expecting. Frankly, I was sort of dreading it because Spielberg is really hit-or-miss with me, and I also worried this would be another Tom Hanks vehicle like Captain Phillips (which, for reference, I intensely dislike). But from the outset, Bridge of Spies sets itself up as a solid and simple old-fashioned spy drama with heavy style. It's brilliant.
If you're looking for action and melodrama, you might want to pass this one up. Spielberg really subdued his usual bravado here, even more so than in his 2012 Lincoln talker, and manages to twist many expectations we might have about American war movies in the wake of American Sniper and its problematic ilk. Bridge of Spies is about paranoia, and Spielberg lets his film simmer in the dark for a long time until it boils over in the third act. It's totally by the book, but it supports the material and feels about as satisfying as a John le Carré thriller.
Tom Hanks is his usual charming self, complete with wit and vulnerability -- though perhaps too much vulnerability -- and carries the picture well. But the real gem here is Mark Rylance, portraying an alleged Soviet spy in America. He gives his role only a hint of emotion, and lets his soft-spoken, witty, ironic performance steal the whole movie right away. He delivers his lines with a wispy, singsong voice and makes manifest an incredibly complicated character: one who refuses to lie in a world, by definition, structured by deception. It's a brave move, and one that succeeds fabulously. I usually don't like it when I feel filmmakers tugging at my heartstrings, but by the ending of this film, Rylance deserved my little sob. I should also mention Mikhail Gorevoy, playing a Soviet ambassador, who thrilled and chilled me with his piercing eyes and conniving hiss. I quite hope to see him in more movies.
Clocking in at nearly two and a half hours, the film plays for the long haul. But it's never particularly slow. Hardly a scene passes without some new concept or insight into the trials, bureaucracy, politics, and legality we witness. In fact, I would argue it's an unusually streamlined film, in terms of plot, for a spy movie. In the last decade or two, the genre has had trouble staying afloat if there aren't huge plot twists or spectacular fight scenes. But this movie proves that major studios still can make a damn good film that's not ridiculously complicated, sexy, or violent. Sometimes it just takes a bit of meditation on theme and relevance. Some of my favorite moments are simply a result of super-subtle period camerawork. Others (and ones that I will pick up more during more viewings) are the result of editing that juxtaposes conflicting ideas. There's a moment when the Soviet spy goes into court, and as the bailiff commands that "All rise," we jump to a classroom of children rising and reciting the American pledge of allegiance before watching videos about nuclear bombs. There's another lengthy scene that repeatedly mirrors the treatment of the Soviet spy in America with an American spy in Russia. It's scenes like these that help save the film from being mindlessly Americanized (still bitterly thinking of American Sniper) while gently provoking thoughtful conversation over cocktails afterward. Don't get me wrong, it's a movie about an average (if highly intelligent) white American for average white American audiences, but at least it doesn't totally ignore the moral and legal ambiguities and compromises war forces us all into.
IMDb: Bridge of Spies
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