Movie Review: "Bridge Of Spies"

"Bridge Of Spies": A-.  As the title indicates, Steven Spielberg's newest heavily promoted film, Bridge Of Spies, is billed as an espionage thriller.  There is also a healthy dose of legal drama, as Tom Hanks plays an insurance attorney in a high brow Brooklyn law firm which is asked by the US Department Of Justice to defend a suspected Soviet spy.  At its core, however, the movie is more a study of negotiating gymnastics between Hanks and two of America's Cold War enemies, the Russians and the East Germans.  A subtitle for the film might read, "Negotiating 101."  The primary lesson: If you are able to assess the strengths and weaknesses of your rival, what's really important to them and what is merely window dressing, and what deadlines are in play, you will be advantageously situated at the bargaining table.

Hanks' character, Tom Donovan, is a named partner in the mid-size firm headed by Alan Alda's character, Thomas Watters.  The client is Rudolph Abel (Mark Rylance), an older man who keeps busy painting in between his spying assignments.  We know from the outset that Abel is guilty because we observe him covertly removing secret messages hidden underneath a New York City park bench.  When the FBI descends on his apartment, he manages to destroy incriminating evidence right under their noses as the feds are tearing apart the furnishings looking for hidden files, wires, micro-cameras, listening devices and other tools of the trade which a spy might possess.

Although Donovan is initially reluctant to take the case, once he does sign on he devotes relentless energy to the task.  The jailhouse scenes in which Donovan and Abel feel each other out and eventually establish a rapport are brilliantly written and acted.  Notwithstanding the fact that he is being charged with what could become a capital crime, Abel seems disinterested.  But, the wheels are ever-turning in his mind.  When Donovan insists on impressing upon him the severity of the government's criminal charges, Abel's reply is, "If I worried would that help?"

Meanwhile, there are two other cases of alleged spying taking place which will impact Donovan's handling of Abel's predicament.  First and most famously, US airman Francis Gary Powers (Austin Stowell) is shot down over Russia while flying a U-2 spy plane.  The Russians gleefully show the world that they are the victims of American aggression, as they parade the captured Powers in front of their news cameras and show his downed plane with a multitude of high-powered lenses attached to its wings.  The U-2 spy plane incident is arguably the most famous propaganda event in the history of the Cold War.  Secondly and much more under the radar, an American college student, Frederic Pryor (Will Rogers), has the bad luck of being caught on the East Berlin side of the city visiting his girl friend just as the final blocks of the Berlin Wall are being set into place.  When he makes a futile attempt to return to his West Berlin quarters, the Stassi arrest him as a spy.

 

Legally, Donovan faces an uphill struggle defending Abel.  The US district court judge is clearly biased against the defendant, and even Watters and the firm's other partners turn against Donovan when he decides to appeal the guilty verdict everyone knew was coming.  Donovan, with his picture splattered all over the New York papers, is given the evil eye by his fellow subway riders on his way to and from work.  How could a patriotic American defend a Russian spy?  The subway scene, with a clever ironic twist, is reprised at the movie's conclusion. 

 

Bridge Of Spies' two best attributes are the exceptional story-telling combination of director Spielberg with co-writers Matt Charman and the Coen brothers (Ethan and Joel), plus the performances by the two leading actors, Hanks and especially Rylance.  Rylance, whom the website IMDb labels as being "widely regarded as the greatest stage actor of his generation," has the uncanny ability to make us, the movie audience, root for his character as he and Donovan encounter a corrupt court system and public scorn.  The dynamic in the relationship between Donovan and Abel, first arm's length attorney-client but eventually one of mutual respect if not friendship, is convincing and key to the plot development.  Also of note are the scenes showing the selection and training of the men, including Powers, who would pilot the American spy planes.  Their instructions in the event of anti-aircraft explosions were twofold: don't let the Ruskies get their hands on the plane, and bite the "poison pill" if you are about to be captured behind enemy lines.

 

The film's weaknesses pertain to its shortcomings as a courtroom drama and a spy thriller; it is neither.  (Granted, it's possible that was not the movie-makers' intention, but then why advertise it as such?)  The trial scenes contain no sharp cross-examination, no strong opening or closing statements, and no surprise witnesses, all staples of the genre.  The ex-parte visit by Donovan to the judge's home is simply laughable, and surely not written by anyone who checked with legal counsel for accuracy.  Likewise, as a spy yarn there is no threat of imminent death for Powers the prisoner, and his captors take it relatively easy on him.  The story is more about Donovan's negotiating ploys.  He is a master at assessing the ever-changing political landscape, and not settling for anything less than the best possible outcome.  If you enjoy the art of deal-making, you will walk out of the theater quite satisfied.