An Old-School Cold War Spy Yarn

Rating: 7/10 (15 October 2015)

The missus asked me what I wanna see this week and I replied: "what else, the Spielberg-Hanks one". This collaboration has always been a marriage made in film-heaven. Yes, I even adore The Terminal. But I don't know about this latest one. My wife dozed off a few times and the dude sitting next to me slept through most of it.
The story is based on the true-life tale of James Donovan (Hanks); a lawyer who was pushed headfirst into the Cold War during the 1960s when he had to negotiate for the release of downed U2 spy plane pilot Gary Powers (Austin Stowell) after the airman was shot down over Russia.
The title refers to the popular Cold War nickname for what's now the Glienicke Bridge connecting East and West Germany at the time the film is set. Its official name then was the Bridge of Unity, but it garnered its alternate moniker due to its notoriety as a prisoner exchange point for Western and Soviet powers.
This Cold War story is certainly ripe for a rip-roaring cross-country yarn but Spielberg went for a sweet classical tone instead. There is a certain elegant sheen to the proceedings and the film poses deep ponderous questions like what makes us citizens of our countries. Hanks' nobility shines off like a light from a candle in a dark room as he takes up the job that nobody wants. The spycraft is captivating and absorbing, and when I say spycraft I don't mean Bourne or Bond. Dead drops are meticulous affairs. Gadgets are giant cameras installed on the bottom of light-weight aircrafts and hollow coins with a poisoned pin for instant death inflicted on oneself by oneself. It is all good and fine but the film couldn't engage me totally with its lack of severity and tension.
For me, the film worked best when James Donovan (Tom Hanks) and Rudolf Abel (Michael Rylance) are sharing a scene together. Abel's face is impenetrable, yet it is filled with the weight of histories and subsumed patriotism. There is a scene in which he opens up to Donovan that is absolutely haunting. The moment the movie just focuses on Hanks it loses me. There is nothing wrong with Hanks. Hanks is just playing.... Hanks for the umpteenth time. You know which Hanks I am talking about... he is the cleverest man, the perfect man in the whole world. He bounces up from setbacks with a dusting off of his pants. You know he will save the day. Mind you, there's nothing wrong with that. But it didn't help the cause of the character when he is depicted as the noblest Saint of Earth and all others are evil, vile and dumb. Where are the cat and mouse games and the battle of wits between the Germans, Soviets and this lone American knight in a shiny armor? Nobody stood a chance against Hanks, and to really drum it into you Donovan's Messiah powers, every American looks to him like he is the enemy of the state and the scum of the earth. I don't appreciate being manipulated like this, especially by a movie.
Still, this is a handsomely made film with some superbly crafted scenes that will remain in my memory for a long time, like the building of the Berlin Wall scene. Spielberg's typical musical cues are a little too in-my-face for my liking, forcing me to feel a certain way. The narrative circles and probes, but it didn't manage to percolate. Usually Spielberg's magic envelopes me and makes me a believer, just not in the case of Bridge of Spies. The film resonates and beats with the sweet energy of a full orchestra with Spielberg-Hanks as the maestro, but like Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool's new manager, sometimes I prefer Heavy Metal.