A Smidge of Spice

Rating: 8/10 (14 December 2015)

It definitely isn't in the league with Spielberg's best ones, but it delivers the story quite well.
In short, this is a cold war politic drama, not by any means an action one. For a history buff like me this indeed is an interesting piece but for someone who couldn't care less, this might not be the best pick. The movie has a great balance of seriousness and spicy comedy, kicking the audience every once in a while.
The movie has a Hitchcockish opening. Camera moves smoothly and conveys the story most of the time perfectly. The comedy kicks in almost instantly and keeps you interested in otherwise grayish second act while going through the necessary clues to prepare us for the third act. At the second act you kind of feel like the story wasn't enough interesting to be a two and a half hour long. Although Coen brothers wrote the script I was pretty disappointed that, from time to time, Spielberg decided to use flat dialogue rather than letting the picture talk.
It's a well told story, so if you find the subject interesting, you will enjoy it.