Spielberg and Charman frame Donovan as a thin bulwark against the American government's attempts to work around its own supposed ideals at the height of the Cold War.
Director Steven Spielberg gives audiences a meticulously composed espionage thriller, which establishes a tense atmosphere from the start and keeps the viewer engaged throughout. [Full review in Japanese]
Authentic re-creations of the period, including duck-and-cover clips about a nuclear holocaust that frightened young students, serve as a reminder of a time, not unlike our own, when the threat of terror kept a steady and disturbing beat.
When a film is as enjoyable as this one, its timing so sweet, and its atmosphere conjured with such skill, do you really wish to register a complaint? Would it help?
Bridge of Spies is never less than brilliantly made, tense and with a satisfyingly twisty plot but Spielberg's recurring late period theme of honest men doing their best in a wicked world is just a little over-baked.
Bridge of Spies is a heart-on-its-sleeve affirmation of American values -- not in the loaded contemporary sense of the term, but in the way the country was founded on values we have to work and fight to abide by.
