Review of Bridge of Spies (2015) by Juliankennedy23 — 24 Feb 2017

Bridge of Spies is a dad movie. In fact, it is one of the most dad movies I have ever seen. It is pleasant and predictable and slightly overlong with an upbeat feel good ending that brings a sniffle and tear to dad's eye. Honestly, I have to go back to The Right Stuff to find a more dad movie.

Tom Hanks plays Tom Hanks as if Tom Hanks found himself in To Kill a Mockingbird all of a sudden. So much so one fully expected his younger daughter to be named Scout. In all fairness, he mixes this in with a segue into Mr. Smith goes to Washington and a touch of Walter Mitty. In other words, he has gone full all American Dad. All that said he is actually quite good in the role. Like he is wearing a comfortable pair of shoes. The movie is well cast. Every shot is well composed with the experienced eye of Spielberg. It is an incredibly handsome movie even if it sometimes comes across as a little safe. There is one scene in particular with Tom’s daughter Scout watching television and a said to my wife someone is going to throw a brick through the window. There was no reason for the scene set-up and shot except for the brick through the window trope. (Which in all fairness actually happened in real life except neither Hanks character nor his family were home at the time) Interestingly the movie was actually attempted to be filmed before with Gregory Peck in 1965 but was considered too sensitive due to Cold War tensions. This was the perfect Gregory Peck role.

Spielberg got a tear in my eye at the end and the film was more entertaining than it had any right to be. If you have a dad in your life spend a nice Sunday afternoon watching this film with him. You won’t regret it.