Bridge of Spies (2015): Review (May Contain Spoilers)

Standing there like that you reminded me of the man that used to come to our house when I was young. My father used to say: "watch this man'. So I did. Every time he came. And never once did he do anything remarkable.

The words of Rudolf Abel in one of the most epic conversations between him and James Donovan as part of One hundred and forty minutes of Tom Hanks as James Donovan, One hundred and forty minutes of  Mark Rylance as Rudolf Abel, One hundred and forty minutes of classic, epic, awesome acting, awesome story and last but not least of great entertainment.

The conversation continues when Donovan responds:

And I remind you of him?

To which Abel responds:

This one time, I was at the age of your son, our house was overrun by partisan border guards. Dozens of them. My father was beaten, my mother was beaten, and this man, my father's friend, he was beaten. And I watched this man. Every time they hit him, he stood back up again. So they hit him harder. Still he got back to his feet. I think because of this they stopped the beating. They let him live. 'Stoikiy muzhik'. I remember them saying. ''. Which sort of means like uh, 'standing man'... standing man.

The movie was anything but ordinary, just like this dialogue and every single dialogue throughout the movie, the words were eloquent even when extremely simple, the story line drags you in from the very first moment.

Movies based on true stories usually rarely ever stick to being 'OKAY', they are usually either extremely good or extremely bad and this one was on the good end of the stick.

Most if not all of the dialogue like I mentioned was amazing but conversation between Donovan and Abel were especially greater than all else. Take this one for instance, Donovan tells Abel:

You have been charged with three counts and nineteen overt acts. Conspiracy to transmit United States defence and atomic secrets to the Soviet Union, conspiracy to gather secrets, and failing to register as a foreign agent.

To which Abel responds:

Do many foreign agents register?

Witty is what the writing and the dialogue throughout the movie was with full lengthy responses at times and quick come backs at others.

The story starts getting down to business early on in the movie, and while one hundred and forty minutes might sound like long, it really is not once you see how there is no real downtime, even the moments of silence are just moments that pump up your anticipation.

The performance of both Tom Hanks and Mark Rylance along with every single other actor on this movie are amazing, but those two in lead roles just did a perfect job.

The movie portrays the capture of Soviet Spy Rudolf Abel by the FBI in 1957 and the assignment of James Donovan as his lawyer and the latter's successful efforts to exchange him for the American shot down pilot Francis Gary Powers.

My name's Donovan. Irish, both sides. Mother and father. I'm Irish and you're German. But what makes us both Americans? Just one thing. One. Only one. The rule book. We call it the Constitution, and we agree to the rules, and that's what makes us Americans. That's all that makes us Americans. So don't tell me there's no rule book, and don't nod at me like that you son of a bitch.

Tom Hanks As James Donovan

The movie gradually shows us the friendship that develops between our two main characters, there is mutual respect and an understanding from Donovan that Abel is nothing but a Russian Patriot performing his duty towards his country just like a lot of Americans are doing the same for the same reasons. Donovan is a principled man with respect for the law and the constitution as opposed to officials who want to see Abel crash and burn regardless of the law and the constitution.

All in all I give this movie an 9.0 out of 10.0, totally worth the watch.