Movie Review : Bridge of Spies

“I thought that dad had gone fishing!” – says the daughter of James Donovan (Tom Hanks), primarily an Insurance lawyer, as she hears the news of her father’s foreign trip making national headlines. Where was Donovan? Why was he on the TV? Well, in an enthralling 2 hours, this movie recreates the Hanks-Spielberg magic once again. Set in 1950s-60s, the movie keeps throwing back images from the duo’s well acclaimed “Catch me if you can”.

The Cold war has kept the world on its toes. With both US and USSR, fearing actions and reactions, the movie captures an essential humane aspect of the life of spies. Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance) was suspected of spying for Russians in America and put in American prison. To ensure that he got a “fair trial”, the US appoints the initially hesitant Donovan to fight the case on Abel’s side. Donovan loses the case, but resolves to take the fight to the Supreme Court. Never questioning whether Abel was indeed a spy, Donovan develops into an empathizing lawyer, who wants to see a “spy who was doing his duty for his country”, be shown leniency. While Donovan succeeds in getting the death sentence commuted to imprisonment, the essence lay in the logic of argument he uses to convince the judge to keep Abel alive, which eventually becomes a reality allowing a ray of hope for Abel to return to his country. Twist comes when an American fighter pilot is captured by the Russians. What follows is a gripping and intense drama that unfolds nervous moments and new developments that increases the scope of the back-channel role that the US government entrusts Donovan with. The effort Donovan takes to bring another young American college student detained in East Germany, shows the strength of his character. What is the role that Donovan plays in the entire episode? Does he succeed in his mission or does he aggravate the prevailing condition for the worst?

Tom Hanks is God of such roles, impeccable and honest. He is very well supported by Mark Rylance who is by no means a second fiddle to Hanks, but an equal partner in all his scenes with the veteran. When Hanks asks him repeatedly in the movie “Shouldn’t you be worried?” he answers as stoically as one can, and every time, “Would that help”, carrying the dialogue with utmost conviction, in what makes the audience appreciate the scene with teary giggle. He evokes a sense of sympathy, akin to one you have for Tom Hanks in The Terminal. Spielberg, like Hitchcock, knows how to set context through scenes. In an opening scene where Hanks argues how an accident involving an accident involving 5 people, is just “one incident” and not “discrete set of 5 incidents”, manifests itself later when dealing with the Russians.

Overall this movie is a great watch. Get hold of this movie at the cinema halls before they bring it down.