Bridge of Spies
2015
***
Director: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Amy Ryan, Alan Alda, Sebastian Koch, Scott Shepherd, Austin Stowell, Billy Magnussen, Eve Hewson, Jesse Plemons, Mikhail Gorevoy
In the early 1960s, a few years after defending a convicted Soviet spy Rudolf Abel, insurance lawyer James B. Donovan is sent to East Berlin to negotiate a prisoner exchange between his former client and Gary Powers, US pilot who was shot down over the USSR. This fact-based drama was scripted by Matt Charman, Ethan Coen, and Joel Coen. Much like Lincoln, Steven Spielberg's previous work, this is a fascinating look into one brief moment in history, but the film itself is long and not terribly exciting. Tom Hanks is reliably good in the lead, but he could play this type of role in his sleep. Mark Rylance won an Academy Award for his warm and laconic performance as Abel.
