Review of Bridge of Spies (2015) by Rob V — 18 Feb 2016

In lesser hands Bridge of Spies is a movie I would likely be very bored by. It's not a subject I'm particularly interested in, it's a lot of talking and complicated political matters, and it has heft material moving rather slowly.

In Spielberg's hands though, well, I didn't love it, but I liked it. There's an awful lot going on in the film, and a lot of characters and motivations to keep track of, Somehow I was able to follow all of it though.

Struggled sometimes sure, but for the most part I got it. It helps to have Tom Hanks in the lead. He's a leading man I was entirely willing to follow, and I instantly cared about him because hey it's Tom Hanks.

I also liked the look of the film. It has a very film noir style to it with wide shots and long shadows. The look helps add to the intensity of it all. There are scenes where characters are just standing, maybe uttering a few quiet lines, but the way its shot makes it extremely tense.

I also liked how while it's not an action movie, when action needs to happen it's done really well. So yeah, generally speaking, I liked Bridge of Spies. It's not exactly my type of movie, I'm just not all that into these dialogue-heavy movies of political intrigue.

The movies so well constructed though I did get into a subject I'm usually not into. I'm glad I saw it and I might even see it again.