Review of Bridge of Spies (2015) by Ike O — 09 Apr 2016

Plodding, predictable, and ultimately pointless, Spielberg's steady but bloated and oppressively heavy-handed approach buries what is an interesting (if not mind-blowing) episode in a fascinating period of modern geopolitics. While never the deepest of filmmakers, Spielberg's visual knack has dimmed over the years, as has his sense of adventure. Inversely, his sentimentally has grown, and the foundations of this film absolutely groan under the weight of unbearable schmaltz (mirroring scenes of Hanks' character on a train watching people playfully scale a fence in contrast to those fatally climbing the Berlin Wall are stupendously maudlin). Nothing is original here (though the opening sequence is very well done, highly misrepresentative of the film to follow), and everything feels preordained. (And do we REALLY need another rote film about an honest man doing his duty to the chagrin of his wife and in the face of threats to his family?) After 10 minutes you could draw a beeline to the film's climax and miss only one or two beats.

As for the Oscars...Spielberg's disastrous 'Munich' got 5 noms, so the 6 here is hardly a surprise. But Mark Rylance - very effective, quiet, intelligent, shot full of dignity - suffers from a badly underwritten character, and remains one-note if compelling. An Oscar win for this is pretty baffling, but bully for him.