Bridge of Spies (2015)

During the Cold War, an American lawyer is recruited to defend an arrested Soviet spy in court, and then help the CIA facilitate an exchange of the spy for the Soviet captured American U2 spy plane pilot, Francis Gary Powers.

Director:

Steven Spielberg

Writers:

Matt Charman, Ethan Coen

Stars:

Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Alan Alda

Won 1 Oscar. Another 25 wins & 86 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mark Rylance	...	Rudolf Abel
Domenick Lombardozzi	...	Agent Blasco
Victor Verhaeghe	...	Agent Gamber
Mark Fichera	...	FBI Agent
Brian Hutchison	...	FBI Agent
Tom Hanks	...	James B. Donovan
Joshua Harto	...	Bates
Henny Russell	...	Receptionist
Rebekah Brockman	...	Alison (Donovan's Secretary)
Alan Alda	...	Thomas Watters Jr.
John Rue	...	Lynn Goodnough
Billy Magnussen	...	Doug Forrester
Amy Ryan	...	Mary Donovan
Jillian Lebling	...	Peggy Donovan
Noah Schnapp	...	Roger Donovan

Storyline

In the cold war, a lawyer, James B. Donovan is recruited by the CIA and involved in an intense negotiation mission to release and exchange a CIA U-2 spy-plane pilot, Francis G. Powers. The pilot was arrested alive after his plane was shot down by the Soviet Union during a mission and stays in the company of a KGB intelligence officer, Rudolf Abel, who was arrested for espionage in the US.

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Plot Keywords:

lawyer | cold war | negotiation | spy | cia | 

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Taglines:

In a world on the brink the difference between war and peace was one honest man.

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Genres:

Drama | History | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some violence and brief strong language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA Germany India

Language:

English German Russian

Release Date:

16 October 2015 (USA)

Also Known As:

St. James Place

Filming Locations:

Glienicker Brücke, Potsdam, Germany

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$15,371,203 (USA) (16 October 2015)

Gross:

$72,306,065 (USA) (4 March 2016)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Amblin Entertainment, DreamWorks SKG, Fox 2000 Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

142 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color Black and White (archive footage)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Steven Spielberg had a good laugh when he read the line in the screenplay of a policeman taunting Donovan that he had been in "the third wave on Normandy." Spielberg joked to Tom Hanks that he ought to answer: "I was in the first", a reference to Saving Private Ryan (1998), also directed by Spielberg.

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Goofs

Donovan observes a failed escape attempt at the Berlin Wall, while riding an S-Bahn train back to West Berlin. The escapees are climbing the outer wall to reach a West Berlin street. At that time, the Stadtbahn was the only overground rapid transit service connecting East and West Berlin.The Stadtbahn-line crossed the border between the British and the Soviet zone at the bridge above the Berlin-Spandau Ship Canal. The Wall laid here alongside the Eastern bank of the Berlin-Spandau Ship Canal. So there wasn't any street on the Western side of the wall, but the shipping canal.

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Quotes

James Donovan: I think they have...
Hoffman: What?
James Donovan: ...snipers.
Hoffman: I'm sure they do.
James Donovan: How are you sure they do?
Hoffman: Because *we* have snipers.

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Connections

Referenced in Midnight Screenings: Bridge of Spies/Love the Coopers/Sicario (2015)

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Soundtracks

77 Sunset Strip
from 77 Sunset Strip (1958)
Written by Mack David and Jerry Livingston
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

User Reviews

One of Spielberg's best most recent movies

Bridge Of Spies is a historical drama film starring Tom Hanks, co-written by the Coen brothers, and directed by Steven Spielberg. Even though its subject matter of the Cold War is something I know very little about, I thoroughly enjoyed it and I am now more interested than ever to learn more about it. I rank it among the best of Spielberg's most recent movies.

In 1957, tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War are at their peak. Spies from both the American CIA and Soviet KGB are a major threat to the security of both world powers and each side often resorts to hasty measures to stop any classified information from being leaked. In Brooklyn, New York, Rudolf Abel is arrested under the suspicion of being a spy. James B. Donovan (Tom Hanks) is assigned as Abel's defence lawyer. However the idea of defending a potential Soviet spy proves to be an unpopular and difficult task for Donovan. Meanwhile, over in the Soviet Union, an American spy plane pilot Francis Gary Powers is shot down and captured by the KGB. As a means to ease tension between the two warring countries, Donovan proposes a swap between the two prisoners of war, Abel for Powers.

Despite containing barely any action scenes and being almost entirely made up of talking, the film never feels boring or slow paced. This is most likely due to the Coen brothers' clever screenplay and Steven Spielberg's creative direction. There were many suspenseful moments where it felt like the prisoner negotiations would go horribly wrong and that kept me on the edge of my seat. Tom Hanks also gives another memorable performance as James B. Donovan, once again proving his versatility as an actor.

I rate it 8.5/10.