Bridge of Spies - 2015 - Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks

I had noted at the back of my mind that Bridge of Spies was likely to be an interesting movie to watch, primarily because of three names, Steven Spielberg (Director and Producer), Tom Hanks (usually anything that Tom Hanks is associated with, is worth watching) and the Coen brothers (though I have not watched all their movies, I have been a fan since Fargo and more recently No Country For Old Men).

I missed watching it when it came to the local multiplex, however I managed to catch it recently on Cable TV, and am I glad that I did! I had not actually read about the movie much, I only knew that it was based in the era of the Cold War, a subject which fascinates me, given that I have read a lot of John Le Carré and Len Deighton. After watching the movie I searched to see if it was based on a book and to my surprise, I found that it was an original screenplay.

The movie is based on a real-life incident involving the swap of a Russian spy for an US U-2 spy plane pilot. It opens with the arrest of Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance) in the United States and it is very evident that he is a Russian spy given that a transmitter is found in his room. The US is keen to show to the world that it is not a banana republic and they take justice seriously. Given that Abel does not have a lawyer and the Russians refuse to acknowledge him (Abel carries a UK passport), the US Government starts a search for someone appropriate to defend Abel.

Enter James Donovan (Tom Hanks), who is doing well at the law firm where he works and hopes to be promoted shortly. Donovan is approached by a senior partner in his firm and told that he should taken on the case as a favour to the firm as well as to the US government. Donovan is sceptical and doesn’t want to be part of a rigged trial. Donovan is assured that a free hand will be given and that he would be given a free hand to decide his strategy. Donovan reluctantly takes on the case, however is drawn in immediately after a couple of meetings with Abel.

Despite putting up a good defence, Donovan loses the case and Abel is sentenced to death. During the course of the trial, Donovan is branded by the media as anti-American and a traitor and the effect is felt on his family Abel appreciates all that Donovan has done for him but has accepted his fate. Donovan refuses to give up and appeals the sentence and gets it reduced to life imprisonment. This forms the first half of the movie and by itself is captivating and would have been worth watching, however there is more!

The US military has been carrying out aerial reconnaissances of the USSR by using its top secret U-2 spy plane and one of them crashes into Russian territory. The pilot is captured and sings like a canary, however that is unknown to the US side. Meanwhile, Donovan is looking forward to resuming his normal life. One day he gets a letter, supposedly from Abel’s wife and she asks Donovan whether he can meet the Abel family lawyer, a person called Vogel, and see if a swap can be arranged. Donovan reports this to the CIA who encourage him to pursue it, while retaining complete arms length and deniability for the transaction.

Donovan now finds himself in East Germany and sees first hand what the Cold War is all about and how there is not really much difference in the tactics used by both sides in the field. Donovan is however made of sterner stuff and retains his moral compass even as he tries to figure out who is bluffing whom. There is also a US graduate student thrown into the mix and Donovan uses his own initiative to engineer a 1-2 swap, Abel for the U-2 pilot and the student. The movie then builds up to its final denouement (in a very understated way) and also manages to thrown in a classic Cold War reference to Checkpoint Charlie.

Tom Hanks as Donovan is superb, however this is what we expect from Hanks, in a lesser actor this would have been termed as an outstanding or breakthrough performance. The real screen stealer is Mark Rylance as Abel, who through his calm demeanour and dead-pan humour, holds our attention in every scene he is in; I look forward to watching more of him in movies where he gets more screen time. Spielberg as director shows us that he has not lost his touch and the movie is as much his triumph as for Hanks/Rylance and the Coen brothers. Rylance, deservedly won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar as well as a slew of other awards.

Overall, this is a must watch movie for all film buffs, particularly for those who are interested in the Cold War and how small parts of it played out. I will run out of superlatives if I try to write anything more, so without further ado, go find it by whichever means and watch it at your earliest.

Rating: 5/5

As always, thanks for reading, and do leave a comment/like so that I get your feedback. Do also scroll down for other book/movie reviews which you may not have seen.

The Girl On The Train - Paula Hawkins

Girl on the train (the book) had created a lot of buzz, which got accentuated when the movie was announced and then the movie was successful in its own right. I had put this on my reading list and got around to it a couple of months ago. I have not watched the movie, however please do not confuse this book/movie combo with an earlier similar sounding and themed book/movie – Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn with the movie starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike.

As far as the story is concerned, it is told from the point of view of Rachel, Anna and Megan, and also jumps back and forth in time (a technique also used in Gone Girl). Rachel is an alcoholic who is in denial, after her messy break-up with Tom, who has subsequently married and fathered a child with Anna.

Rachel has been fired from her job in London for her erratic behaviour, resulting out of her alcoholism. She is sharing a flat with her friend and to keep up appearances, dutifully continues her commute to London every day. It is made evident that she is running low on money, however always seems to have some on hand to buy booze.

Rachel has been unable to let go even after Tom has remarried and there are multiple occasions where she has tried to contact Tom and Anna, including times when she has gone to their (in her mind her) home, even when Tom is not at home. Anna is legitimately worried about the safety of herself and her daughter, though Rachel has not yet done anything which could be considered criminal.

Rachel’s commute to London takes her past the old suburb where she used to live with Tom. She sees a good looking couple, Megan and Scott, from the train and starts building up a fantasy of a perfect marriage which she imagines them to enjoy. This fantasy slowly turns into an obsession where she imagines herself in place of Megan.

All of the above is background and we find out about it in bits and pieces through the book. The book opens on a typical commute day for Rachel, however on that day she spots Megan kissing another man in her backyard. This sets off mental alarm bells for Rachel, as to why Megan (at that point she doesn’t even know their names) is risking her ‘perfect’ marriage. This prompts her to get off at the suburb where Tom/Ann, Megan/Scott live, however she is already half way to getting drunk. She comes to consciousness the next morning in her own flat and it is clear to her that she has been on a binge. However all that happened the previous evening is a blank in her mind.

The first thing Rachel finds out is that Megan has disappeared the same evening and clearly Rachel must have had something to do with it. The rest of the book is about how Rachel struggles with herself to do the right thing, firstly, to go to the police to report her suspicions, and when the police do not seem to take her seriously, do some enquiries of her own.

The rest of the book is about how Rachel goes about her investigations, interspersed with chapters which are narrated from Anna’s and Megan’s point of view. The plot expectedly has some twists, however nothing compared to the big reveal which is the center piece of Gone Girl.
To summarize, it is a reasonable read, to sound more than a little sexist, a chick flick whodunnit, which Gone Girl, is most certainly not! At the other end of the spectrum is Sue Grafton with Kinsey Mulhone, just to prove that The Girl On The Train is not the norm.

The writing is not that great, not having read any other book by Paula Hawkins, I cannot comment on whether her usual standard is better or worse, however taken this book on its own, it is just about passable. Not enough momentum to qualify as a true blue thriller and neither too much complexity to be a true murder mystery. Some alcoholics or heavy drinkers are likely to identify with at least parts of Rachel.

If you are curious about what the buzz is all about, then by all means go read it, but do not do so with any great expectations. I would just about rate it as a 2.5/5.

Thanks for reading!