Director: Steven SpielbergCast: Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Amy Ryan, Alan AldaRating: ****
Bridge Of Spies is a Steven Spielberg directed film with Tom Hanks in the lead. No wonder the expectations run sky high. Inspired by true events, the historical drama is based on the 1960-U2 incident during the Cold War era.
Set against the backdrop of the late 1950’s during the Cold War era in Brooklyn, New York, the story is about James B Donovan, a private lawyer who defends the case for an alleged Soviet spy and subsequently gets assigned to negotiate a spy exchange deal with the Soviet Union. The film beautifully talks about how the lawyer deals with the whole situation among the complexities of duty, humanity, justice and patriotism.
The best part of the film is that it does not revolve only around Hollywood’s most favourite theme of US-Soviet rivalry. Nor does it have the usual American brand of cliched patriotism. The film delivers more than just that as the story is about justice and humanity.
Spielberg is a master craftsman. His films have always been well-researched, well-written and well-presented. The writers Matt Charman, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen did their job with flawless extraction from various books written on the 1960-U2 incident.
Without any second thoughts, I must say Tom Hanks was brilliant as always. He lived up to his legacy with Spielberg which features the illustrious list of Catch Me If You Can, Saving Private Ryan and The Terminal . Mark Rylance, who played the calm and composed Soviet spy named Rudolf Abel, was equally fantastic.
Bridge Of Spies is a must watch for all those who find historical drama intriguing. The film is yet another gem from Spielberg’s bag of wonders.
Here’s the trailer: