Review of Bridge of Spies (2015) by Jingerjake — 22 Feb 2016

I read somewhere that "this film is good, but it isn't Spielberg good." I can confidently confirm this critic false. Steven Spielberg is a director and as direction goes, this film is beautiful.

The cinematography is amazing and this competes with some of Spielberg's best work. He's undoubtedly earned Academy attention once again. So to say Spielberg is the flaw is misguided criticism. Where this film is flawed is numerously amongst other blame.

The editing for one is often sub-par and sometimes terrible. Some transitions feel like a made for television film. So in this aspect you can blame Spielberg, but ultimate blame lies with the editor. Next is the lighting.

This is something I do place some blame on Spielberg which is why I said it's amongst his best work and not a frontrunner. Some scenes are so washed and so bright it makes it hard to believe Spielberg didn't say "Cut! Now turn the **** brights down!" But, hey I felt that way all through Minority Report as well and still love it.

But Spielberg works wonders in so many other ways this film deserves applause due to his credit. The screenplay however is also flawed. The story starts so much stronger than it finishes, losing ground along the way as it turns from an exciting thrill-ride of spies and espionage to a heartwarming personal victory amongst men and their countries.

It loses reality along the way, becoming fluffy instead of brutal. It's definitely a safer approach than Spielberg took with Schindler's List. This means he'll win over a larger box office and DVD rentals, but less critical praise.

You'll also hear flack from those who have to compare the truth but needless to say this is a film and not a documentary so ignore the fiction and enjoy the story. But what happens when you change history is you can get caught in making something hardly worth believing.

The relationship between the two lead characters becomes just that. Though the ongoing "would it help" bit is charming, the relationship is flawed by the simple nature of its controversial existence.

Sure, we're all human, but this was a Soviet spy during the Cold War. No one would've defended him so faithfully. In the end we get a somewhat fluffy finale out of our protagonist that will not rub the fancy of many of us technical film critics, but it does win the hearts of the majority.

Hanks ensures this with an all too familiar performance. Though Hanks has become a tad monotonous, he's still and always will be Tom Hanks. Meaning he's damn good at what he does. My ultimate verdict is that Spies is not as incredible as its Rotten Tomatoes review, it is amongst Spielberg's best work and perhaps the best cinematography this year, and it finds itself in a comfortable range of those who will love it and those who will really like it.

I believe my judgment to be more critical than most will take this film and I still liked it quite a bit.