The Perfect Diplomat

Rating: 10/10 (18 October 2015)

It has become customary to expect the best from Steven Spielberg, the man behind so many classics in American cinema, and he keeps growing as an artist, always availing himself of the best team, and working along with them to give us the finest quality in the art of cinema. IN "Bridge of Spies" he has directed an old fashioned film which shows in precise detail how the art of diplomacy might not have been invented but fine tuned, with grace and good intentions. With the help of Tom Hanks, a great choice for the lead character, Spielberg takes on a trip to the past, to show us the world of politics and the Cold War in the 1950's.
It's a time of fear and paranoia, a world that expects the worst and chases its own tail in order to find a solution that might not exist. Both Russia and the United States are expecting the worst. Regular people live in constant fear that today might be their last day. Kids receive training in school to get them ready for the moment the world will be destroyed, with everyone living in a cloud of atomic waste.
One day a "spy" is detained by the FBI, and Hanks is hired to defend him, though it's just a charade since everyone knows the result before the case even goes to court. Somehow, Hanks predicts there are possibilities to allowing the prisoner to remain in jail. This sets off acts of violence against the defender for his anti patriotism.
Without giving much away, he finds himself in the middle of international deals, with two partners going at each other when one feels the other is either outsmarting or slighting each other. Egos are bruised and soothed, and lives are in danger because arrangements are not that easy to make.
Eventually, everything is resolved, not without last minute twists that could undo every bit of work. This is the time when Hank shines, by portraying that everyman persona that makes him so endearing and popular. He wins us over with his intelligence and his big heart. James Stewart was very good at playing this type, and his match is Hanks, a very talented actor who once again proves that with the help of a great team behind him, he has found his niche again, and we are given movie gold.
"Spies" brings back a world lone gone, with extreme detail going into his production and much care at the heart of the script. With every performer giving his best in order to fully realize a vision. The result is a classic, a film that makes us think and satisfies us.