'Blu-ray or Bust' - BRIDGE OF SPIES

'Blu-ray or Bust'

BRIDGE OF SPIES (2015, R, 142 minutes, AMBLIN/DREAMWORKS SKG)

Steven Spielberg likes taking his viewers on a journey; he does it so well that he honestly has become one of the most prolific storytellers of my generation.

With BRIDGE OF SPIES, he takes you back in time to the late 1950’s. And like most of his prior attempts to recreate history, he offers you something that isn’t just another Spielberg film: he transports you for a few hours. Occasionally, I wish he would return to crafting those days of wonder, similar to his earlier works, when he would leave me with my eyes wide and staring, my mind blown. CLOSE ENCOUNTERS, E.T., RAIDERS—all films that had that clearly recognizable Spielberg stamp on it. They were wonderful road movies of self-discovery and surprise and awesome set pieces. And the stories…oh, the fantastic stories!

Somewhere along the way, Spielberg grew up. Not a bad thing, necessarily.  His way of storytelling has changed, has become more mature. With 1993’s SCHINDLER’S LIST, there was still a bit of that flair of his early days resounding in the work. Yes, it was a bleak and dreary film; but tell me that, by the end of that long, gut-wrenching journey, with the victorious end, you didn’t get that same feeling of satisfaction you got from watching one of his prior films. Maybe not as happy a feeling, but you know you had just witnessed a damn good story.

Twelve years later, and he laid MUNICH on us. Powerful, emotionally draining, dark, and freaking violent. It felt nothing at all like a Spielberg film. He has been changing things subtly over the years, but, until 2005, you didn’t get to see all of it come into play at once. It was kind of a shock to the system.

Now, teaming with Tom Hanks once again, he tells the story of American attorney James Donovan, who was recruited by the CIA to negotiate an exchange of spies in East Germany at the height of the cold war. The story, written by wunderkind brothers Joel and Ethan Cohen, is tight, effective, and poignant when it needs to be. And Spielberg’s direction…one minute you are watching a courtroom drama, the next a spy thriller. He shifts between the two styles effortlessly, and Hanks’ acting is better than ever. You can see the look in his eyes when he gets to East Berlin; he is totally out of his depth, until he isn’t anymore. Donovan is an interesting character, and in anyone else’s hands, he might have come off as self-righteous or over exuberant. Not so with Hanks, this generation’s Jimmy Stewart. He brings a level of clarity to every character he plays, and this one is no exception.

You kinda have to get this one on Blu-ray. Spielberg’s favorite cinematographer Janusz Kaminski makes your brain linger on the harsh differences between the two countries that see each other as the bad guy. His reality is sharp and consistent. And the score by Thomas Newman (SKYFALL, WALL-E) is a nice complement to Spielberg and Kaminski’s visual style.

There are three special feature docs, which give you a little back-story on the actual events this film is based on. The best moments are the archival footage of the actual events, which shed new light on a filmmaker’s attempt at accuracy. Spielberg’s commitment to the story and the facts is unquestionable.

As of this writing, the iconic director’s next film is in post-production, and looks to be a return to his earlier muses: THE BFG is about a girl that befriends an outcast giant. And, he’ll be headed back into the science fiction realm soon with his adaptation of the (rather fantastic) book READY PLAYER ONE. And…the next Indiana Jones film. Wait…what was I complaining about earlier...?

Grade: A

Special Features: B+

Blu-ray Necessary: Most Definitely