Title: Steven Spielberg’s Cold War Epic, ‘Bridge of Spies,’ Is Riveting | | Observer
Headings: Steven Spielberg’s Cold War Epic, ‘Bridge of Spies,’ Is Riveting
MOVIES
Steven Spielberg’s Cold War Epic, ‘Bridge of Spies,’ Is Riveting
The adventures of Tom Hanks

Content: Just as the state department, the CIA and the Pentagon want to save face by sending Donovan to negotiate the swap on Russian soil, the plot switches gears again when another American, a naïve Yale economics student named Frederic Pryor, is captured on the wrong side of the Berlin wall and jailed. Powers is held by the Soviets, Pryor is in the custody of the German Democratic Republic and Donovan takes it upon himself to demand the release of both men, saving two lives instead of one. All of this takes place in a frozen winter landscape where officials from two governments play hardball and Donovan’s top coat is stolen by a gang of East German ruffians while he’s fighting a debilitating cold, all of which gives Mr. Hanks a chance to be vulnerable in a sympathetic Jimmy Stewart role. The screenplay by Matt Charman, with a polish by Joel and Ethan Coen, condenses a lot of confusing spy talk into a shrewd narrative that culminates on the infamous Glienicke Bridge, where the outcome is never in doubt. I mean, it’s a Tom Hanks movie, so he has to emerge a hero. He does it masterfully, abetted by Mr. Spielberg’s customary finesse and attention to detail, and supported by a fine cast that includes the wonderful German actor Sebastian Koch as the East Berlin lawyer, seedy Mikhail Goreyev as the lawyer for the KGB, a wasted Amy Ryan as Donovan’s wife and handsome Austin Stowell as Powers. Filmed in Poland, Germany and New York, Bridge of Spies is a solid chapter in the Spielberg filmography, and another reason why his self-assured ability comes in handier on the screen than John le Carré’s when it comes to telling a good yarn in terms even a head-scratching novice like me can understand and enjoy. Filed Under: Movies, Reviews, movies, Bridge of Spies
SEE ALSO: ‘ Truth’ Is One of the Greatest Journalism Movies Since ‘All the President’s Men’