Review of Bridge of Spies (2015) by Foxgrove — 11 Dec 2015

A good looking, but too stately and ultimately boring cold war espionage story that outstays its welcome by over half its length. Things start promisingly and one could be forgiven for thinking that the quality was going to match that of last year’s brilliant ‘Imitation Game’.

Unfortunately, after 60 minutes the attention starts to wander and the not particularly compelling story begins to lose impetus. The acting is reasonably good, although Tom Hanks is nowhere near his best.

The cinematography, however, is gorgeous. This is journeyman Spielberg, probably less, and is punctuated with his usual trademark of mushy music. In his good work his scores are integral and accepted despite all their obvious manipulation.

In his underwhelming stuff, of which this must definitely be counted, they almost become the final nail in the coffin.