Good Story But Not Big On Action

Rating: 6/10 (16 October 2015)

I saw "Bridge of Spies", starring Tom Hanks-Saving Mr. Banks, Captain Phillips; Mark Rylance-The Gunman, The Other Boleyn Girl; Alan Alda-The Blacklist_tv, What Women Want and Amy Ryan-Goosebumps, Escape Plan.
This is based on a true story that takes place in 1957. Steven Spielberg directs this cold war story about a Soviet spy captured on American soil, Mark, who is arrested and asked to move into one of our fine prison establishments, or maybe even be executed for treason. Tom plays a New York lawyer that is convinced by the C.I.A. to represent Mark-they think they should show the world that even a dirty Soviet spy deserves a good defense. Alan plays Tom's boss and agrees with the C.I.A. and tells Tom to go ahead and take the job. Around this same time, an American pilot, Francis Gary Powers, is shot down over Soviet air space, while taking reconnaissance pictures from a U2 spy plane at 70,000 feet. The C.I.A. wants Tom to negotiate a prisoner exchange with Mark for the pilot. Since Tom has to go to Germany for the talks, and it is as the wall is being built in Berlin so it is dangerous, Tom tells his wife, Amy, that he is going on a fishing trip-he doesn't want her to worry. The exchange of prisoners is to take place on a bridge between East Berlin and West Berlin, so that is where the title of the movie, Bridge of Spies, comes from. It is a good story-what else do you expect from a Steven Spielberg movie?-but light on action. It's rated "PG-13" for violence and language and has a running time of 2 hours & 15 minutes. It's not one that I would buy on DVD-one viewing was fine-but it would be a good rental.