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Spy Game
Directed by Tony Scott
Starring: Robert Redford, Brad Pitt, Catherine McCormack, Stephen Dillane
Running Time: 2:07
Country: USA
Year: 2001
Web: Official Site
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Robert Redford demonstrates that his flame burns just as brightly in Spy Game, a breathless and nervy espionage film that has not been seen in a long time.
Redford plays Nathan Muir, a CIA agent about to retire who tries to free his protégé Tom Bishop (Brad Pitt), currently detained in a Chinese prison. The film alternates between Nathan's final 24 hours at the agency and a series of flashbacks establishing his relationship with Tom and at the same time the implication of American secret services in the world since the Vietnam War.
Interest in the film lies in its realism. The audience first follows Tom's training to then see him falling into a world where all punches are allowed and manipulation reigns. Far from the spectacular and glorious heroism of James Bond or Patriot Games, Spy Game doesn't spare its protagonists, repeatedly showing them using people whom they then abandon to a certain end. From Cold War Germany to Beirut and China, the ploys of these spies are presented to us as an unhealthy and fixed game of chess where the borders between good and evil are most vague. The full-length feature also takes a hard look at certain necessary maneuvers for getting humanitarian aid in through the character of Elizabeth (Catherine McCormack).
Spy Game benefits from a rhythmical montage and aesthetic photography. The flashbacks offer faded images while the chains of sequences are very connected. Though Tony Scott reuses certain tricks that he pushed to their height in the laborious Enemy of the State, this time he puts his artistic vision to the service of the history without ever losing the thread. He meticulously follows Redford and creates a universe in the vein of good 70's spy movies.
Robert Redford does wonders. Ironic and manipulative, his confrontation with CIA hierarchy is a delight and makes one forget his last few half-baked in unctuous productions. Nathan is, in a way, the reincarnation of his famous character Joe Turner in 3 Days of the Condor. Brad Pitt is also comfortable in the skin of a young agent with lots of bravado but whose innocence will be tested. A sensible choice, because just as Paul Newman passed the torch to Redford in The Swindle, Redford here seems to turn it over to Pitt, demonstrating that every generation has a "pretty face that knows how to act".
The only real black cloud in the picture is the conclusion, which undermines the realistic aim of the project, but certainly fulfills the usual audience craving for a happy ending.
With a commercial director not deprived of talent and two talented stars, Spy Game is the perfect example of a good Hollywood film, when studios provide them the means.
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Fred Thom
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Spy Game review
