Bridge Of Spies (2015)
A very solid film, owing some definite credit to the Coen Brothers as script writers. Spielberg decides to go super-schmaltzy in the last couple of minutes, but it's a small enough blip not to matter too much.
I feel like the mild-mannered Russian spy's Scottish accent adds a neat quirky comedy element which perhaps would be more emphasised if the Coens were directing this film themselves. But even so, there's quite a bit of comedy here.
Tom Hanks is in very familiar territory as the rational centre of the film, yet he also has a maverick edge that I like to see from him in movies like "Charlie Wilson's War".
A great sense of humour makes what is essentially a cold war thriller into a delightful tale of a man negotiating in a time where nobody is willing to compromise. I'd heard this was a less impressive Spielberg film, but besides the lack of special effects spectacle I'd say this was a highlight in his career, particularly considering his work in recent years.
Schmaltzy endings are a problem for Spielberg, but this isn't an AI situation. The film had finished and tied up loose ends very nicely and the final few minutes, clearly intended as a final flourish, could easily simply have been cut out. The ending doesn't ruin the film, but it's a little annoying when everything else was so great.
It's a nice touch to have Sebastian Koch, star of “The Lives Of Others” about the Stasi in East Germany, playing the representative from the GDR.
A sure sign that Spielberg hasn't lost his touch. A very enjoyable film about the cold war.
A+
