greatly condensed and more tightly intertwined

Rating: 10/10 (6 October 2015)

Hanks gives a very satisfying, watchable and assured performance, with just the right amount of hokum, homely and wily in judiciously balanced proportions,Because this is Hanks we're dealing with, audiences know what to expect. it's terrific craftsmanship, pure storytelling gusto and that Midas- touch ability to find grounds for optimism everywhere, Steven Spielberg has dramatised a true-life cold war spy-swap drama, starring Tom Hanks and Mark Rylance. Those brought up on John Le Carré might perhaps expect from this moral equivalence, shabby compromise and exhausted futility. But Spielberg, with his gift for uncynicism, uncovers decency and moral courage amidst all the Realpolitik. He works from an excellent screenplay by up-and-coming British dramatist Matt Charman, a script punched up in recognisable places by Joel and Ethan Coen.