Rated R - Running Time: 2:07 - Released 11/21/01
SPY GAME
Rated R - Running Time: 2:07 - Released 11/21/01
Spy Game marks the second time this fall (after October's
The Last Castle) that we
see Hollywood bigshot Robert Redford headlining a major feature
release without producing or directing it. Perhaps Redford, tired
of qualified reviews for his beautiful but overindulgent productions
like The Horse Whisperer
and The Legend Of Bagger
Vance, has decided to get back to his roots. Or maybe
he just needs some quick cash to make a boat payment. Whatever
his reasons, he shows he can still hold his own in front of the
camera, as long as his character doesn't have to show any significant
emotion, and his co-star Brad Pitt is no less effective. Directed
by Tony Scott, whose credits include such military/government-related
thrillers as Top Gun (1986), Crimson Tide (1995),
and Enemy of the State
(1998), Spy Game follows a similar formula, relating the
ins and outs of international espionage while maintaining tension
with the urgency of a ticking clock.
The film, written by Michael Frost Beckner and David Arata,
begins with an exciting attempted prison rescue in China, in which
CIA agent Tom Bishop (Pitt) is caught trying to spring an unnamed
prisoner. Nabbed at the last minute, he is dragged back in and
given his very own cell, where he can immediately begin enjoying
the amenities associated with the facility's most deluxe accomodations,
such as regular beatings and a sentence of execution. Unfortunately,
the film seldom reaches this same level of intensity during its
over-2-hour running time. The real story involves retiring agent
Nathan Muir (Redford), who taught Tom the game but parted ways
with him after a bitter disagreement. Soon after Nathan hears
that his ex-partner is scheduled to die in 24 hours, he finds
himself being questioned, on his last day, about Tom's history
by a round table of coffee-swilling bureaucrats while the hours
and minutes until the planned execution tick away. It seems that,
as the U.S. is in the middle of a strained trade negotiation with
China, Nathan's superiors are planning to let Tom go down to avoid
a political incident. After all, you've gotta have your priorities
in order.
As Nathan begins relating the history of his partnership with
Tom, we see a series of flashbacks which span many years and take
us from Vietnam to Berlin to Beirut and elsewhere. We learn of
their original meeting, their early relationship, and the many
operations in which they worked together as partners. We also
learn of their differing opinions on how to play the "game,"
and the role a woman named Elizabeth Hadley (Catherine McCormack)
plays in the current situation. The relaxed pace of the flashbacks,
forced by Nathan's intentional nonchalance, counterpoints the
urgency of the impending deadline, the remaining time of which
is often displayed on the screen. Under director Scott's guidance,
Redford translates this pressure-building dichotomy to the screen,
appearing unflappable to his boss (Larry Bryggman) and a suspicious
investigator (Stephen Dillane), while feverishly attempting to
arrange a last-minute rescue with the help of his ever-faithful
secretary (Marianne Jean-Baptiste). But sometimes the two parallel
timelines seem to work at cross-purposes, clouding the pace.
Meanwhile, Chinese prison inmate Pitt (who, in an interesting sidebar, is banned from entering China because of his role in 1997's Seven Years in Tibet), plays his character with intense charm, from his spy-related adventures of years past to his current getting-the-crap-beaten-out-of-him predicament. He and Redford, whose last project together was Redford's 1992 paean to fly-fishing, A River Runs Through It, seem at ease together. Furthermore, Scott's choices of music, from classic pop tunes like Dire Straits's "Brothers In Arms" and Joe Walsh's "Rocky Mountain Way" to the original score of Harry Gregson-Williams, add a palpable atmosphere to this gripping tale. ****