Spy Game Review
by Laura Clifford (laura AT reelingreviews DOT com)November 26th, 2001
SPY GAME
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When retiring CIA agent Nathan Muir (Robert Redford) discovers his agency is hanging out his protege Tom Bishop (Brad Pitt) to die in a Chinese prison he spends his last day pitting his skills against his employer to save his friend in director Tony Scott's "Spy Game."
The delight of Tony Scott's proficient thriller, whose jazzed pace and hi-tech flourishes recall his "Enemy of the State," is the relaxed, on the nose performance by old pro Redford. While it's also fun to see him paired with the man he made a star in his "A River Runs Through It," Redford and Pitt only appear together in flashbacks.
As the film begins, we witness Bishop's elaborate prison break of an unidentified female go astray. Nathan Muir's called to provide background info, hopefully damning, on Bishop. As Muir plays for time, he sketches out his relationship with Bishop, which we see in three extended flashbacks - their meeting in Vietnam where Bishop impresses Muir with his bravery and marksmanship, Bishop's training days in Berlin where he learns the harsh realities of the spy game, and their mutual mission in Beirut where the seeds of Bishop's current situation are sown. As Muir learns the information he hasn't been deemed needed to know, he begins to take covert actions to undercut the CIA while being dogged by colleague Charles Harker (Stephen Dillane, "Welcome to Sarajevo").
Redford's so good here he makes you wish he'd waited for a weightier vehicle to return to form. Pitt holds his own, but this is Redford's film all the way. Oscar nominee Marianne Jean-Baptiste ("Secrets and Lies") is fun as Muir's co-conspiratorial secretary Gladys while Dillane makes for a hissable foe. Larry Bryggman ("Die Hard 3") represents the old school as Muir's boss Troy Folger and Catherine McCormack ("Braveheart") is a believable conflicted love interest for Pitt. The classy Charlotte Rampling ("Under the Sand") is used all too briefly as a counterspy.
The original screenplay by Michael Frost Beckner and David Arata delivers the goods, from its present day 1989 cold war setting all the way back to Vietnam. It turns out to be particularly relevant in today's terrorism aware times, especially in the Beirut sequence where CIA acts for the common good result in the very thing they're fighting. It's disappointing that the writers feel the need to include cliches like cars crashing into fruit stands and mentors going to extraordinary lengths on retirement day. The film's tech credits are top notch.
B
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