****
Brooklyn, 1957. At the height of
the Cold War, the CIA arrest suspected Soviet spy, Rudolf Abel, and nominate
unsuspecting insurance lawyer, Jim Donovan, to defend him in court. With the
eyes of the world upon him, Donovan must tread carefully, especially after a
failed US mission leaves a young American on the wrong side of the Berlin Wall.
Spielberg and Hanks’ latest
collaboration has a very old fashioned feel to it; it’s what you might describe
as ‘a political talkie’ as opposed to the thriller it has been marketed as.
This is not meant as a criticism, merely that this is not an action-packed war
film, rather a series of men talking in various rooms as the world seems to
fall down around them. Tom Hanks is Jim Donovan, the lawyer asked to defend
Rudolf Abel: he is the ‘American everyman’, abiding by the Constitution and
determined to give his client the best possible defence, even at the risk of
his own safety. Hanks plays him with all the panache that you would expect;
humorously at times, with real earnestness at others. Opposite this
all-American figure is Rudolf Abel, a suspected Soviet agent, played by Mark
Rylance. The film is undoubtedly as its strongest when Rylance is on screen.
His portrayal of Abel is considered and each idiosyncrasy carefully enacted,
giving the audience the sense of a man who has lived alone and in secrecy in
the US for many long years. In fact, Abel seems almost relieved to find himself
speaking to Donovan, someone with whom he can talk to about his life after so
long. It is hard to know how much poetic licence has been taken with the Abel
character, to make him someone to cheer and feel for, but Rylance brings this
man of few words to life with immersive precision. Such is his charisma on
screen, that the film feels a little empty when he is missing.
The second part of the film, in
which Donovan is asked to secure a swap between Abel and US spy, Francis Gary
Powers, is less convincing than the first, and is without a doubt about twenty
minutes too long. Of course, being a Spielberg film, that isn’t to say that
this second act is by any means poor, it merely lacks the intrigue of the
first. The juxtaposition between East and West Berlin, where the swap is due to
take place, is excellently realised, as is the sense of dread that hangs over
the divided city. The atmosphere is deeply political, with messengers passing
on phone numbers and carefully worded negotiations, and definitely tense at
times. Despite the overall dark tone, the film is humorous at times, helping to
remind us that these are people just trying to go about their daily lives in
the midst of international threat.
Although formulaic and
predictable, this is a well-directed, well-written and very enjoyable film.
Hanks is as watchable on screen as he ever was, and Spielberg remains a
director who knows how to tell a good story, unafraid to have a film without
explosions and numerous action set pieces. Go for Tom Hanks and Spielberg, but
stay for the mesmeric Mark Rylance, and the strange comfort of watching an old
fashioned Cold War romp.
Comments
Post a Comment