Spy Game (2001)

Retiring CIA agent Nathan Muir recalls his training of Tom Bishop while working against agency politics to free him from his Chinese captors.

Director:

Tony Scott

Writers:

Michael Frost Beckner (story), Michael Frost Beckner (screenplay)

Stars:

Robert Redford, Brad Pitt, Catherine McCormack

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert Redford	...	Nathan Muir
Brad Pitt	...	Tom Bishop
Catherine McCormack	...	Elizabeth Hadley
Stephen Dillane	...	Charles Harker
Larry Bryggman	...	Troy Folger
Marianne Jean-Baptiste	...	Gladys Jennip
Matthew Marsh	...	Dr. Byars
Todd Boyce	...	Robert Aiken
Michael Paul Chan	...	Vincent Vy Ngo
Garrick Hagon	...	Cy Wilson
Andrew Grainger	...	Andrew Unger
Bill Buell	...	Fred Kappler
Colin Stinton	...	Henry Pollard
Ted Maynard	...	CIA Administrator
Tom Hodgkins	...	CIA Lobby Guard

Storyline

CIA operative Nathan Muir (Redford) is on the brink of retirement when he finds out that his protege Tom Bishop (Pitt) has been arrested in China for espionage. No stranger to the machinations of the CIA's top echelon, Muir hones all his skills and irreverent manner in order to find a way to free Bishop. As he embarks on his mission to free Bishop, Muir recalls how he recruited and trained the young rookie, at that time a sergeant in Vietnam, their turbulent times together as operatives and the woman who threatened their friendship.

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Plot Keywords:

espionage | shanghai china | task force | cia agent | spy | 

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Taglines:

"Poor is the pupil who does not surpass his teacher" (Leonardo Da Vinci)

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, some violence and brief sexuality

Did You Know?

Trivia

Tony Scott said that the film is like a James Bond movie.

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Goofs

When Nathan Muir is approaching the exit of the CIA building, close to give his badge on his final day, he has already tipped off the press and he thinks Bishop is fine. But he sees on the TV screen a new "live report from Hong Kong" where the reporter says that Bishop was already dead. It is about 3pm in Langley when Muir is leaving, which makes it impossible to be daylight in Hong Kong... yet the live report from Hong Kong is clearly in daylight.

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Quotes

Nathan Muir: [drinking coffee while standing outside of the coffee shop] , showing Tom the apartment building across from then See that building across the way?
Tom Bishop: Yeah.
Nathan Muir: Do you know anyone there?
Tom Bishop: No.
Nathan Muir: In five minutes I want to see you on the balcony.
Tom Bishop: What do...
Nathan Muir: Five minutes.
Tom Bishop: Can't we discuss it over coffee?
Nathan Muir: You just lost ten seconds.

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Crazy Credits

In the opening credits, many of the credits are each preceded by a jumble of letters flickering on the screen. This may be a reference to the opening credit sequence of one of Robert Redford's earlier spy movies, Sneakers (1992).

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Connections

Referenced in Top Gear: The Boys' Mother's Review Cars (2005)

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Soundtracks

Ti Zitas
("Nour El Chams")
Written by Nikos Terzis and Tassos Vougiatzis
Additional lyrics for "Nour El Chams" by Adel Raffoul
Performed by Pascale Machaalani
Courtesy of Music Master International

User Reviews

In response to the negative reviews

I can't believe some of the nonsense I've read here. People are complaining that Redford looked too old in the flashback scenes -- for one, I thought he looked believable. Secondly, Hollywood hasn't cloned Redford in a vat yet so we'll just have to live with scenes like this. So get over it. Others complain that the movie is somehow BORING, which blows my mind, considering it's non-stop, fast paced action and dialogue. If you're attention span is too short for this movie I'm sure you'll enjoy crap like "XXX". Others complain about messy plot logic (how did a CIA operative get into a Chinese prison? Huuu duhh, I dunno! It's a popcorn flick you morons! It's not a 900 page novel or a documentary). The plot takes a few leaps here and there, but a Snake Eyes or Face/Off this film is not. I read complaints about the 'arty', flashy 'MTV' style editing and filming techniques -- I actually thought the movie was filmed and edited superbly and the contemporary, TV-commercial style actually complemented the film. It's crisp, tight, taut and entertaining. You get the feeling this is a high-quality production, whereas with something like "Mission Impossible 2" the same type of style is implemented but it comes off feeling cheap. Not here, not with this movie. As with Enemy of the State, it works. I have a feeling some of the people that thought it was boring simply couldn't follow what was going on. The plot does make sense if you have the attention span to keep up.

Details

Country:

USA Germany Japan France UK

Language:

English German Arabic French Cantonese

Release Date:

21 November 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

SpyGame

Filming Locations:

Queens Lane, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$115,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$21,689,125, 25 November 2001

Gross USA:

$62,362,560

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$143,049,560

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Beacon Pictures, Kalima Productions GmbH & Co. KG

Technical Specs

Runtime:

126 min 114 min (TV)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1