A hit from Spielberg

Rating: 7/10 (25 January 2018)

I always find Spielberg a hit-and-miss director; for every winning thriller like MUNICH there's a piece of tat like INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL to come along and reduce the director's stature in my eyes. Thankfully, BRIDGE OF SPIES is one of his mature films, which translates into talkiness which is never boring thanks to a very strong script that recalls great Cold War thrillers like THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD. Tom Hanks is once again a likeable, quick-thinking everyman who this time around is tasked with defending a Russian spy in the courts. I remember despising Mark Rylance's WOLF HALL when I attempted watching it, but Rylance is at the top of his game here and extremely likeable as the self-effacing spy. The film's true story origins means it has the ring of authenticity throughout and Spielberg admirably avoids sentimentality, instead presenting complex characters working their way through complicated situations. The end result is a film which delights from beginning to end.