Review of Bridge of Spies (2015) by Kaitlyn J — 05 Mar 2016

When it comes to historical drama films that are showcasing one of our history events, Steven Spielberg usually does his best by delivering the message and an effective good film. Spielberg has done well with historical dramas like Munich, War Horse, and Lincoln. When you put Spielberg and Tom Hanks together in a film, it has a strong direction and outstanding performance. Bridge of Spies does start out slow and has that narrative structure that begins with James Donovan (Tom Hanks) defending Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance) a Russian spy, who is under the United States custody. Then, the narrative cuts in with Francis Gary Powers (Austin Stowell) a U-2 Spy plane pilot, who is shot down in Russia and held prisoner. Matt Charman, Joel Coen, and Ethan Coen script did well building this plot about this cold war era. James Donovan is a man that follows the constitution and to do what is right. Especially, when Abel was arrested for being a Russian spy. The judges, the prosecutor, and every one else in America wanted Abel sent to a long sentence and the death penalty. James, this case was anonymously selecting him to defend Abel. James persuaded the judge, that Abel can be used for any prisoner swap, if the Soviet Union ever captured an American. Soon enough, Powers is held as a prisoner in Russia and the CIA tries to get James to negotiate with the Russians for a prisoner swap.

Steven Spielberg does well in creating beautiful set pieces of the 1950s Brooklyn and East Germany. Every scene, these characters are in, this drama piece is well put together. For a slow moving film, the movie was never out of place or dull. If it was not for the engaging script and direction. Tom Hanks and Mark Rylance did a beautiful job in giving an amazing performance. Amy Ryan plays James Donovanâ(TM)s wife, but she has very little to do in the film. The few minutes of screen time she is in, she gave a strong performance as well.

The direction of the first hour of the film starts slow, basically James Donovan helps trying to defend Abel. It feels like a courtroom drama film with a backlighting of the 1950s Brooklyn setting. The second hour of the film does turn into a cold war thriller being set in Germany, as James is trying to negotiate with the Soviet Union in swapping prisoners. The film shows the backdrop of Germany as it is being divided from the west and east side. The script has the sub plot of an American university student Frederic Pryor being captured in the East Berlin and labeled as an American spy. James Donovan is also given the task of trying to negotiate with the Germans in releasing Pryor. Bridge of Spies is a well made historical drama film, Tom Hanks did great, Steven Spielberg direction, and the script was very well engaging.