Bridge of Spies 2015

     In Brooklyn New York of 1957, Soviet spy Rudolf Abel retrieves a secret message from a park bench.  He is immediately followed and detained at his apartment.  He manages to conceal the message.  James B. Donovan is assigned as his attorney.  Donovan goes above and beyond in his defense of Abel.  They begin a type of friendship that continues to the end of the movie.  Everyone in America would like Abel to be given a death sentence.  Donovan persuades the Judge that an Abel alive could be useful to our government later down the line.

     This is my second viewing and review of this film.  I think it was better on the second time around.  I saw small details that I didn’t catch before and I didn’t need to be tense about any of the outcomes.  I could just go along for the ride this time as well as appreciate the story and the characters.  4* (I really liked this movie)

142 min, Drama directed by Steven Spielberg with Tom Hanks Mark Rylance, Alan Alda, Domenick Lombardozzi, Victor Verhaeghe, Mark Fichera, Brian Hutchinson, Joshua Harto, John Rue, Bill Magnussen.

Note:  Imdb 7.6 out of 10, 91% critic 87% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 3 ½*, Amazon 4.6* out of 5* with 4089 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Gleisdreieck, Berlin, Brandenburg, Potsdam, Germany; Dolnoslaskie, Poland; New York, Brooklyn, Jamaica, Manhattan, New York.  This is the second collaboration between Steven Spielberg and Joel & Ethan Coen.  Spielberg was executive producer for True Grit of 2010.