Director: Tony Scott
Writer: Michael Frost Beckner, David Arata (Screenplay)
Starring: Robert Redford, Brad Pitt, Catherine McCormack, Stephen Dillane, Larry Bryggman
Plot: Retiring CIA agent Nathan Muir recalls his training of Tom Bishop while working against agency politics to free him from his Chinese captors.
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Nice Spin on the Thriller
Story: Spy Game starts as CIA spy Tom Bishop (Pitt) gets captured in China on his latest mission, back home America is panicking with his retiring former handler Nathan Muir (Redford) bought into the fold to learn about his character.
Nathan finds himself being interviewed to understand the mentality Tom has, which leads to flashbacks as we learn about how Tom was recruited and his ability to make new assets as we go through the cases he worked on with Nathan. This all goes into the race against time to make the decision on whether to trade or leave Tom to rot in Chinese jail.
Thoughts on Spy Game
Characters/Performance – Nathan Muir has worked a decorated career for the CIA handling spies searching for assets around the world. He is about to retire but his last day he must do everything to save one of his best recruits Tom Bishop. Tom Bishop is the spy that has been captured on his latest mission, we learn through the film just how skied his ability as a spy was as we also learn his strengths and weaknesses. Elizabeth Hadley has a past with Tom which might be the reason why everything has gone down.
Performance wise, Robert Redford and Brad Pitt are both great throughout showing us just how the two can play the mentor student kind of relationship through the film.
Story – Looking at the story we get to see how a mentor in the CIA must recount his relationship with one of his best student turned spy, this gives us a nice mix between training even when Tom is experienced in the field and seeing how Nathan is looking back at his career. We also have enough spy material to keep us on edge throughout.
Action/Crime/Thriller – The action in this film is very calm, it is the thrilling side of everything that keeps us on the edge of our seats as we are left to wonder if there is a crime going on or not.
Settings – The settings show us just how the world of spies can be left open to anything and everything.
Final Thoughts – This is a good thriller that keeps us on edge through the whole film with great performance from Redford through the film.
Overall: One for the thriller fans to enjoy.
Rating
