Spy game - Jeu d'espions

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.

Or is it? Maybe it is easier to ... play it, if you consider it a game? One thing is for sure, Tony Scott is a masterful player ... behind the camera. You can tell with this movie, how he likes to shoot movies and how he likes to create tension, even in a simple scene, where Redford is only holding a cup of coffee and going from one room to another ... insert, camera moves with him, towards him, cut little snippets in and make it seem like something urgent ... masterclass in shooting and editing I'd say.

But that is not all we have here. You also have two wonderful actors ... two people who surely admire each other and play off each other very well. Even if their characters may not agree on many things ... there is some level of respect even in the movie and their playing off each other.

The Spy Game is not something that can be seen lightly ... and something that plays with human life. Where certain scenarios are considered wins, even if a lot has been lost ... you'll know once you see this. I'm surprised I never had seen this before the other day ... but there is only so many movies one can watch, right?

SPY GAME / (2001) *** (out of four)

Tony Scott is known for his big budget, fast-paced, action-packed extravaganzas. His latest film, "Spy Game" is no exception. He takes advantage of a massive budget, but loses sight of human comprehension. It's difficult to grasp his moral when it's awash in a superficial style where individual shots seldom last more than thirty seconds, and where dialogue never exceeds the length of a short paragraph. There's not much time to introduce characters, situations, or even locations-datelines appear on the screen to identify times and places.

Yet, it doesn't just feel as if we are in another movie by Tony Scott-everything feels very real. The danger is real. The characters are real. Many action films are about the action, special effects, and car chase sequences. "Spy Game" does contain those things, but they are in a focused, tight, evocative thriller. This movie is about the characters, not the action. It never forgets that.

"Spy Game" contains a complex structure. We begin in 1991. Veteran CIA officer Nathan Muir (Robert Redford) prepares for retirement. On his last day, he learns that his one-time protégé, Tom Bishop (Brad Pitt), has been captured in a foreign prison on a charge of espionage and will be executed in 24 hours. Fearing international crisis, the CIA decides it would be too risky to save him. But with a new generation in control of the agency, Nathan is no longer an insider. He must outsmart his own agency in order to save his old friend.

Most of the film plays out in flashbacks as the CIA digests valuable information from Muir. The movie spans from the Vietnam war to the end of the Cold War, with years ranging from 1965 to about 1991 (although the characters don't seem to age much). We learn Nathan chose Tom as a sharpshooter in Vietnam. He trained with Bishop. They formed a close bond, until something came between them-a woman.

The forty-year span in time poses no problem for "Spy Game." The engaging screenplay, by Michael Frost Beckner and David Arata, focuses on only the necessary characters. The soundtrack, by Harry Gregson-Williams, masterfully captures the various time periods, spicing the scenes with a slick sense of style and intrigue. The cinematography by Daniel Mindel makes the differences in location clear. Christian Wagner's editing gives the movie a frenzied, almost rushed emotion, that puts us right in the middle of the race against time.

Pitt and Redford retain their ground, despite a thick style. Redford creates a character out of nothing. We know little about him at the beginning, and we know little about him at the end. But he somehow gives his character a conscience, human values, and a lot of interest. We care about him because we do not like the black and white CIA operatives. Thus, we care about Pitt's character as well. Pitt gives his character an immature nature. He is in a stereotypical young hotshot role that might have fit him better a few years ago, but he still creates a grave sense of panic and fear.

With a structure like this, we expect subplots to evolve from the flashbacks. There is an intriguing terrorist story. A love story. Themes about betrayal, trust, position, friendship, commitment…but "Spy Game" never slows down and allows us to absorb these important details. By the end, we feel exhilarated, and we know we just watched a very smart, well-crafted film, but the most we can take from it is that it is a very smart, well-crafted film. I think, beneath all the style and surface, there is a little more to the movie than that.

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

That's my big takeaway for this film. It reminds me of good old-fashioned filmmaking where there was a good script, there were good actors and there was good videography. You just can't make them like this anymore. People who have seen the Sting with Robert Redford will feel a bit nostalgic watching this film. I also put the Mechanic in my title because it reminds me of when Jan-Michael Vincent and Charles Bronson made another fabulous film about spies and espionage.

Some people call this a spy film but I disagree, this is a film about two spies who have a deep respect for each other and know their craft well - or at least Mr Muir knows his craft so well that he fools even people he works for, anticipating their suspicions. It's about not leaving someone behind.

Redford is such a stand out actor, he's truly one of a kind. Many reviews mentioned that Redford and Pitt seem to work well together but what a lot of people don't know is that Redford actually hand-picked Brad Pitt and his first feature chatacter was in a Redford film called A River Runs Through It in 1992. Redford is quoted as saying that Pitt reminded him of himself and he had big plans for him. So one would assume they are probably friends, which probably also answers the question someone else had which is why Pitt did not choose to star in the Bourne identity instead of Spy Game - he already had a successful working relationship with Redford. Furthermore Pitt did not need to do the Bourne identity, he had already done Oceans 11 and Ocean's 12 along with a myriad of other incredibly High grossing films, much higher grossing than those that Matt Damon did in a similar time period.

As for people saying that the plot was confusing or poorly written, I disagree on that point as well. Because it has a beginning, it has a middle and it has an ending. The film starts out showing us how Pitt's character gets thrown into prison in a foreign country; the middle part is kind of shown along with the present activities of Muir setting up Tom's rescue while at the same time telling how he and Tom met and worked together in the past. And all this while the audience knows that Muir is planning to rescue Tom but we don't know how until really the final moments of the film, which is the sting more or less. The inserted memories were masterfully done.

For anyone who watches AGT and wonders how those illusionists trick the panel into saying certain numbers and drawing certain pictures, you will learn a lot by watching this film because those psychological mind games of training your audience of what to chose and what to see are very real and they did, in fact, start in the spy arena.