'Spy Game' offers elegant thriller

Joko E.H. Anwar, Contributor, Jakarta

Not many people would think that Hollywood would take up an espionage story again.

Let's face it. For the last couple of years they have been too busy exploiting computer technology in making movies mainly for visual pleasure.

Some turned out to be real quality entertainment, while some ended up being trashy, The Matrix rip-offs.

Meanwhile, there were only a few good, intelligent political thrillers made which genuinely relied on good writing to keep audiences glued to their seats.

Some tried, such as Taylor Hackford's Proof of Life which ended up being a mediocre action piece that failed to grip viewers' attention with good storytelling.

All we got is the James Bond franchise which could barely pass as an intelligent political thriller -- as it was never intended to be one.

Thank God for Spy Game which may make audiences have faith again in the traditional political thriller.

Alright, it is not nearly as good as classics such as All the President's Men which also stars Robert Redford but at least it will fill the longing for that kind of movie.

We have to give extra credit to Spy Game for being daring enough to date itself 10 years back to the year 1991 while many filmmakers would set their movie in present time, unless the story is based on a real incident, since it is thought to be distracting to audiences if they do otherwise.

The film tells the story of CIA agent Nathan Muir (Redford) who is to retire from the agency in 24 hours.

However, he is then summoned to the agency's conference room where CIA executives are discussing the fate of agent Tom Bishop (Brad Pitt) who was captured by the Chinese military while on a mission unknown to Muir at the beginning.

The great thing about Spy Game is that it manages to avoid most cliches. You would think that the movie would be about a soon-to-be-retired officer who would try to prove himself in his last big mission a la Danny Glover's character in Lethal Weapon, but it will soon prove otherwise.

Even the film's opening shows signs that it will end up being like one of those James Bond's opening segments where it shows how the agent pulls off a successful mission before the cool opening credits.

However, the gripping opening scene in Spy Game sets the scene for the entire film.

While the agency's executives do not want to reveal their real intention regarding Bishop's fate, Muir also has an agenda of his own.

He nevertheless tells them his history with Bishop who turns out to be a young protegee of his while setting up a plan to carry out his mission.

Most of the film's running time is spent illustrating Bishop's character from Muir's point of view.

The background story is often gripping. It involves Bishop and Muir working together on several dangerous missions in turbulent places such as Beirut and East Germany before the union.

Unfortunately, the flashback gives us only a little understanding of why we should root for Bishop's character.

But this is only a small complaint since the scenes inside the agency's headquarter which intersect the flashback scenes will be enough to keep the audiences amused.

Redford really shines in this movie as an aging agent who decides to do the right thing at the end of his career, even though it means he has to break the rules which he used to strictly play by.

While the movie still has some drawbacks, it is still a real treat for mature audiences.

Spy Game (*** out of four stars) Drama/Thriller, 126 minutes Starring Robert Redford, Brad Pitt, Catherine McCormack Written by Michael Frost Beckner and David Arata Directed by Tony Scott A Universal Pictures Presentation