Bridge of Spies (2015) Review

Lucas Versantvoort / 28 Nov 2015

Spielberg's been more and more interested in 'true stories' lately, what with him directing War Horse, Lincoln and so on. The same goes for Bridge of Spies, the story of how one insurance lawyer managed to negotiate the exchange between a Soviet spy and an American army pilot in East Berlin during the Cold War. Spielberg, armed with a script co-written by--of all people--the Coen brothers (oh ya betcha, yaaa!), manages to bring this piece of history to life, as a film about history should.

1957. A Russian spy, Abel (Mark Rylance), is arrested in New York. James Donovan (Tom Hanks), an insurance lawyer is brought on to defend him. But, he is told, it's basically a farce, since everyone and their mother wants to see this guy hang. The trial is merely to show the world he was treated fairly. Donovan takes his duties seriously, however, and defends Abel to the best of his abilities, to the dismay of pretty much the entire populace. During this time, his relationship with Abel seems to develop into a strange friendship, a sort of mutual understanding despite their differences. The judge presiding over the case wants to see Abel found guilty as much as anyone, but Donovan manages to persuade him to sentence him to jail rather than the chair. At this point, the film's second half begins. An American pilot on a top-secret mission is shot down and captured by the Russians and the CIA asks for Donovan's help in arranging the exchange: Abel for the pilot. Donovan travels to East Berlin, around the time the Berlin Wall was being built, to meet with the Russians, to have the conversations their governments can't.

What I found most appealing is something that is ironically also probably the source of that Spielberg-ian sense of Americana: James Donovan's sense of honor. James and Abel find each other in a way. They value each other's sense of honor and duty. Donovan argues in court that America should behave according to its own well-established rules, even during wartime, otherwise you're also dismissing the Constitution and how could you possibly represent American and all it stands for if you do that? Spielberg must have felt Donovan's message was relevant today. Then again, whenever we see Abel being fairly treated in prison (the way Donovan would've wanted), it's immediately contrasted with how the American pilot is harshly interrogated in Russia, so there's also a righteous America vs brutal Russia undertone, perhaps referring to how the Russia of today is fairing under Putin. Maybe both meanings apply simultaneously, with Spielberg urging humane behavior from both world powers.

If there's one thing the film doesn't sell well, it's the family scenes. Amy Ryan gets the unfortunate role of the nagging wife. That's selling her a bit short, but every time we see her, she's worried about Donovan, the family, the way society perceives them. That's her primary emotion: worry. And what about the son? There was not a single scene where I believed I was watching a father-son relationship. I get that he symbolizes the poisonous influence of those prepare-yourself-against-the-Russians video's from the fifties, but how am I supposed to take him seriously when their house is fired upon and they first thing this kid does is eagerly say he followed the correct procedure in case the Russians attacked them? If they wanted to increase the emotional stakes with the family scenes, well, they failed miserably.

Another (minor) complaint is the build-up to Francis Gary Powers’ plane crash. It's just technical stuff we learn here. We're not becoming emotionally attached to Francis at all. Therefore, the only tense part of his inevitable capture is the CGI-ridden crash itself. You introduced the student only minutes before his capture, so why does the pilot deserve all this endless build-up? Either do a build-up like this right, or let it end up on the cutting room floor. The film's long enough as it is. 

Overall though, the film's quite good. The drama is never overbearing, the film manages to infuse the proceedings with a sense of humor that essentially ridicules this strange part of history (perhaps à la Strangelove) and, even with what I consider some superfluous scenes, it's wonderfully paced. Definitely not a bridge too far.