Spy Game

Nail-biting and exciting movie about terrorism , spies and geopolitical issues . The film deals with a spy chief called Nathan Muir (Robert Redford) who's on the verge of retirement from the Central Intelligence Agency. Then the veteran spy learns that his one-time protege Tom Bishop (Brad Pitt) , a CIA operative serving in various countries , has been incarcerated. Tom has gone rogue and been taken prisoner after attempting to smuggle a prisoner out of China . Although Muir and Bishop had once been close friends , sharing long periods of thrilling adventures from Vietnam , Berlin , to Beirut where Muir schemed a plot to chase a mastermind terrorist . As in Lebanon , both of whom formed a solid and shaky alliance to break the terrorist ring which previous bombed US military targets with a lot of casualties . Things go wrong when Bishop falls in love with an aid-worker (Catherine McCormack) . As his memories of their friendship come flooding back , Muir sets about managing the rescue of his old friend from a Communist prison . Meanwhile , the super-powerful CIA uses technological-gizmo-surveillance satellites and modern surveillance systems for people spying and hound terrorists relentlessly . It's not how you play the game ... It's how the Game Plays you. It's not how you play the game. It's how the game plays you. "Poor is the pupil who does not surpass his teacher" . In the end, only friendship matters!

Story's core is interesting and script is dense with information and drama . The ultra-brisk editing and rapid scenes movement leaves little time to consider some inadequacies . Regarding a peculiar relationship between two top-of-the-range spies whose long knowledge has developed bad blood and resentment between them , in spite of the two men haven't seen each other in years . Here Brad Pitt is reunited as a co-star with his A River Runs Through It (1992) director Robert Redford for this espionage thriller from Tony Scott , and both of them giving awesome interpretations . Engaging and twisted thriller concerning the spy-world on Middle East , China and other countries . Robert Redford and Brad Pitt sustain interest enough in this tale of friendship , betrayal , sacrifice and terrorism . Brad Pitt is good as tough super-spy as well as sniper operative and Robert Redford 's cool displaying an enjoyable performance as the elderly and regretted CIA agent . The use of geopolitical messages to add weight to a romantic subplot between the spy and the beautiful nurse , well played by Catherine McCormack , though feels a little forced , at times. They are well accompanied by a good cast , such as : Stephen Dillane , Larry Bryggman , Marianne Jean-Baptiste , Shane Rimmer, David Hemmings, Benedict Wong , Ken Leung , Matthew Marsh , Michael Paul Chan , among others .

The film packs adequate , evocative cinematography by Dan Mindel and rousing musical score by Harry Gregson-Williams . The motion picture was well realized by Tony Scott . He was a good filmmaker whose works received some great reviews , his first big hit happened when was asked by producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer to direct Top Gun (1986) starring Tom Cruise . He would work again with Cruise on another high adrenaline film Days of thunder (1990) , which proved less successful . He followed the success of Top Gun with the sequel Beverly Hill cop II (1987) with Eddie Murphy , which was well received . In 1993, he directed the cult movie True Romance (1993) , which was written by emerging director Quentin Tarantino but Scott had a lot of control over the film . While Unstoppable (2010) was Tony Scott and Denzel Washington's fifth and final film collaboration. The others were Red tide (1995) , Man on fire (2004) , Déjà vu (2006) , and Pelham 123 (2009) all of them got big successes . Spy Game(2001) rating : 7/10 . Well worth watching . Above average . The picture will appeal to Robert Redford and Brad Pitt fans .

There are many reasons why we like a movie or not. For me, this is the case in witch small things were enough to like it: the two main actors, the places in which the action occurs, and the fact that it has more to do with a love affair, in a tragic atmosphere than about spies. Well, of course this is about spies - two of them - and mostly about the relation between them; if they are similar enough to understand each other, they are also different enough to generate some tension in the relation.

Maybe this is more about how the characters move around each others than about action or intrigue. In fact this is so obvious that the way in which the story is told is mostly in flashback, with Muir (Robert Redford) introducing all of them and narrating part. So, the story is the story and the spy game is what Muir does within the CIA, in 24 hours or so. The distinction is important because if you think of this as a traditional spy movie (maybe like the Bourne Identity or Supremacy) it has two obvious flaws for the genre: the plot is very simple (maybe predictable) and there's no bad guy, no one to kill or to revenge; there's also almost no genuine action, and, as far as I can remember, Bishop (Brad Pitt) only fires one weapon in the whole movie. Maybe what mislead most of the people was the title of the movie, and maybe that's why most of them didn't like it. However, in my opinion, this is a very good movie, with strong leading roles and a compelling story.

No gadgets, no arms, no villains, no action...oh, no,this is a whole different game, and it's a serious and a dangerous game: the game of people and their relations.

You can rely on Robert Redford and Brad Pitt for polished performances and action director Tony Scott (Crimson Tide, Enemy Of The State, True Romance, Top Gun) will always keep the pace of a movie galloping along, but will the mix necessary produce a quality movie?

Spy Game is essentially about the foibles of humanity. Even seasoned hard nosed spies can have softer moments you know.

Nathan Muir (Redford) is on his last day as a spy with the CIA when his protégéé Tom Bishop (Pitt) gets nabbed on an unauthorised mission trying to break someone out of a Chinese Prison. Bishop is going to be executed in 24 hours unless Muir can do something.

Muir realises that the CIA is going to dump Bishop for the sake of impending trade talks. We are treated to a series of extended flashbacks to Vietnam, Berlin and Beirut which chronicle Muir and Bishop's relationship.

Spy Game is mostly a boys own story with lots of explosions showing smart men outwitting the opposition. As Muir teaches Bishop his tradecraft we're introduced to how spies are taught to case a restaurant, fix a radio, vomit on demand.

We're told how they are trained to be callous, to look at the big picture, to stay remote, to sell out people if that's of use. They're taught how to kill.

And we're shown again and again the CIA assassinating people, causing civil unrest, authorising explosions, arranging murders. The film makes no apologies for this but implies that for the good of the free world, well someone has to do it. Spy Game certainly surfs sweetly on American patriotism.

Spy Game is predictably interesting though mainly because of Robert Redford who still has that million dollar smile and Brad Pitt who mixes boyish charm with a slight degree of angst.

Tony Scott's film making style however really needs to slow down. Relentless pace and swooping cameras are eventually tiring and they don't give time to contemplate. Still, Spy Game is slick and informative. I'm damn glad I don't live in a war zone.

3 Blown Apart Flys

Spy Game is everything we're not supposed to expect from a major Hollywood movie: engrossing, intelligent, well written, acted and directed. But that's just what it is and more, this is definitely the best thing I've seen since Memento. Although Pitt is really good and Redford plays himself as well as he has in years, I think the most credit should go to Tony Scott. In the hands of a lesser director this could have been something more like Mission Impossible. But Scott stays right on target, keeping us interested, developing the characters, and keeping the pacing nearly perfect. Scott also shows us that he's stayed with the times: he employs the full array of modern camera tricks like fast motion, reverse zooms and funky lenses but in a way that actually makes the film better instead of being an annoying distraction. The dialogue feels natural, all the actors do good work, no one tries to steal the show or be the star. The story is interesting and almost never lapses into the kind of hyper violence or sappy sentimentality one has come to associate with modern studio pictures. You get a feeling this is pretty close to how the CIA really operates, a place with fantastic technology at its disposal but who's ultimate effectiveness is determined by the fallible people who run the missions and take the chances. I really enjoyed this film, I hope it's a sign of things to come and not a rarity.

I made the mistake of only watching this film once the first time around. I did end up buying it, though I was never sure why. Then, years later, I got around to watching it again... and again... and again... While Spy Game is so fast-paced that it's difficult to keep up the first time around, I think that's what makes it such a great DVD.

There are performances in this movie that defy description. You almost get a sense that if you were to meet him in the street, you'd get someone named Nathan Muir playing the part of Robert Redford - the transformation is that complete. In several scenes, but especially the scene on the Berlin rooftop, Redford gives a performance that is unlike almost anything I've ever seen in cinema. It's that perfect. Brad Pitt also does an amazing job, but Redford steals the whole movie.

I had to re-watch Spy Game three times before I felt I got a complete understanding of everything going on. There is almost nothing given away for free in this movie - none of the standard Hollywood "shove-it-in-your-face-so-you're-sure-to-get-it" fare. Every decision, most plot points, and a lot of what would normally be called "meaningful looks" are written on Muir's face for a split second, then they're gone.

This is one of the few movies that's intellectually challenging to watch. It takes patience and a quick assessment of each scene to understand and keep up. None of the acting is over the top or explicit; most everything is controlled, subtle, and delicately handled.

All in all, Spy Game is an exceptional movie, IMO, to watch and in some ways to study.