'Spy Game' offers elegant thriller<\/p>\n
Joko E.H. Anwar, Contributor, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Not many people would think that Hollywood would take up an
\nespionage story again.<\/p>\n
Let's face it. For the last couple of years they have been too
\nbusy exploiting computer technology in making movies mainly for
\nvisual pleasure.<\/p>\n
Some turned out to be real quality entertainment, while some
\nended up being trashy, The Matrix rip-offs.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, there were only a few good, intelligent political
\nthrillers made which genuinely relied on good writing to keep
\naudiences glued to their seats.<\/p>\n
Some tried, such as Taylor Hackford's Proof of Life which
\nended up being a mediocre action piece that failed to grip
\nviewers' attention with good storytelling.<\/p>\n
All we got is the James Bond franchise which could barely pass
\nas an intelligent political thriller -- as it was never intended
\nto be one.<\/p>\n
Thank God for Spy Game which may make audiences have faith
\nagain in the traditional political thriller.<\/p>\n
Alright, it is not nearly as good as classics such as All the
\nPresident's Men which also stars Robert Redford but at least it
\nwill fill the longing for that kind of movie.<\/p>\n
We have to give extra credit to Spy Game for being daring
\nenough to date itself 10 years back to the year 1991 while many
\nfilmmakers would set their movie in present time, unless the
\nstory is based on a real incident, since it is thought to be
\ndistracting to audiences if they do otherwise.<\/p>\n
The film tells the story of CIA agent Nathan Muir (Redford)
\nwho is to retire from the agency in 24 hours.<\/p>\n
However, he is then summoned to the agency's conference room
\nwhere CIA executives are discussing the fate of agent Tom Bishop
\n(Brad Pitt) who was captured by the Chinese military while on a
\nmission unknown to Muir at the beginning.<\/p>\n
The great thing about Spy Game is that it manages to avoid
\nmost cliches. You would think that the movie would be about a
\nsoon-to-be-retired officer who would try to prove himself in his
\nlast big mission a la Danny Glover's character in Lethal Weapon,
\nbut it will soon prove otherwise.<\/p>\n
Even the film's opening shows signs that it will end up being
\nlike one of those James Bond's opening segments where it shows
\nhow the agent pulls off a successful mission before the cool
\nopening credits.<\/p>\n
However, the gripping opening scene in Spy Game sets the scene
\nfor the entire film.<\/p>\n
While the agency's executives do not want to reveal their real
\nintention regarding Bishop's fate, Muir also has an agenda of his
\nown.<\/p>\n
He nevertheless tells them his history with Bishop who turns
\nout to be a young protegee of his while setting up a plan to
\ncarry out his mission.<\/p>\n
Most of the film's running time is spent illustrating Bishop's
\ncharacter from Muir's point of view.<\/p>\n
The background story is often gripping. It involves Bishop and
\nMuir working together on several dangerous missions in turbulent
\nplaces such as Beirut and East Germany before the union.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, the flashback gives us only a little
\nunderstanding of why we should root for Bishop's character.<\/p>\n
But this is only a small complaint since the scenes inside the
\nagency's headquarter which intersect the flashback scenes will be
\nenough to keep the audiences amused.<\/p>\n
Redford really shines in this movie as an aging agent who
\ndecides to do the right thing at the end of his career, even
\nthough it means he has to break the rules which he used to
\nstrictly play by.<\/p>\n
While the movie still has some drawbacks, it is still a real
\ntreat for mature audiences.<\/p>\n
Spy Game (*** out of four stars)
\n Drama\/Thriller, 126 minutes
\n Starring Robert Redford, Brad Pitt, Catherine McCormack
\n Written by Michael Frost Beckner and David Arata
\n Directed by Tony Scott
\n A Universal Pictures Presentation<\/p>",
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