Bridge of Spies Review

Lately, Steven Spielberg has been moving away from action adventure stories and into the bio-pic territory. One could argue that this is because those get more Oscar buzz generated but it also could be because of directorial interest. Spielberg's latest film Bridge of Spies sees the famous director pair with the Joel and Ethan Coen ,writers of Fargo and The Big Lebowski, to bring to the screen the story of James B. Donovan and how he negotiated the trade of one Soviet spy for two Americans.

Tom Hanks plays the main character and he does a great job. I would compare his character to Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird. Hanks's character has to defend alleged Soviet spy Rudolf Abel in court and even though he knows his client is a spy he believes that he should have his day in court and should be punished justly. Abel is not a mean spirited killer but he is not the most trustworthy man. Their relationship almost mirrors the relationship between Atticus and Tom Robinson. Atticus knew that Tom was going to be found guilty but he tried his hardest to get the jury to do the right thing and acquit Tom. But where the audience knew that Tom was innocent, the audience know that Rudolf is a spy for the Soviets. Keep in mind this was during the era of McCarthyism and the Red Scare. The Soviets were the enemies of Americans and anyone caught defending them would more than likely have their life threaten. Hank's character experiences that prejudice as his house is shot at in the night because he is defending a Soviet.

The film is also an interesting look at how the law worked outside the United States. East Germany has different views from its western counterpart. The prisoner negotiation was not an open and shut case. Donovan had to use his knowledge of persuasion and law in order to get both men free from their respective prisons.

Bridge of Spies may start out slow for some viewers but it starts to pick up speed once it gets to the prisoner negotiations. While not the action adventure movie Spielberg is known for, Bridge of Spies is another great film to add to Spielberg's already impressive resume.