Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Cast: Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Alan Alda, Scott Shepherd, Amy Ryan, Eve Hewson, Austin Stowell, Jesse Plemons, Will Rogers, Sebastian Koch, Dakin Matthews, Edward James Hyland, Mikhail Gorevoy, Joshua Harto, Domenick Lombardozzi, Victor Verhaeghe, Rebekah Brockman.
If a film can offer a lesson to be learned, if it can open a window, no matter how small, into a world where the sheer grasp of enlightenment can be gleaned and nurtured, then that film has succeeded where so many have failed.
The potent mix of one the most celebrated actors and directors of their time, Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg in any film is enough to know that the box office should groan under the weight of expectant hearts and the chemical fusing of two outstanding talents beating with quicksilver and a search for truth. For those seeing Bridge of Spies, the story of James B. Donovan, Rudolph Abel, Francis Gary Powers and student Fredric Pryor, not only is the film affirming of history but it shines a light on the events that, along with disaster that was the Invasion of the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the assassination of John F. Kennedy, in all reality brought the world one step closer to complete annihilation.
Steven Spielberg’s understanding and perception of what makes a great film should never be underestimated and with the Cohen Brothers adding weight to the venture, Tom Hanks in impeccable standing and with Mark Rylance in attendance, arguably the only actor in a very long time to outshine Tom Hanks on screen, the story of how a single Russian spy from Northern England was able to cause the kind of diplomatic incident that today would bring pressure from all countries involved to the negotiating table in the form of their most senior politicians, was brought back to life and in honourable fashion.
There are many people today who perhaps just don’t get what a perilous time the 60s were, for all the flower power and the peace movement, the songs of love and redemption, the other side of the coin was one in which was only a terrible misunderstanding away from involving the exchange of nuclear weapons on a grand scale. What Bridge of Spies shows is that mounting tension, the need for strong minds and hearts in a world where bravery and honour to the chosen ideology were seen as good in one but deceitful in another.
A film which wrestles with the concept of history, of how one man can make a true difference to the world and in which articulation is paramount, Bridge of Spies is one of Tom Hanks’ and Steven Spielberg’s finest hours.
Ian D. Hall