Bridge of Spies: A solid movie with a few writing lapses

When you join Spielberg's direction with the touch of the Coen brothers on the script, great things are expected. Yet, although Bridge of Spies is a solid movie, it is a bit heavy on dramatic exaggerations, and is far from either's best work.

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Despite having originally been written by Matt Charman, the Coen brothers' influence on the script is noticeable, especially through its sporadic witty humor. Such, that gives the movie a more laid back feeling, breaking from the tensions of the cold war, and adding to its enjoyment. [...]

However, Charman's more limited experience in screenwriting does still show through, despite the later tweaks by Joel and Ethan. Bridge of Spies consistently exaggerates for dramatic effect, which contrasts with the Coens' far more subtle control over the way a story is to be conveyed, and how to connect the audience to it, seen in their other works.

Charman's inexperience is most visible in his attempts at building suspense, both in that they are built at unnecessary moments, and in their subsequent failure. The film is filled with "wait until the last second" moments, and long pauses in speech (or before it), both trying to build tension, but being ultimately predictable.

Moreover, there are certain elements, that could have been much more effective as defining marks, both for the characters and for the story itself, if used with more precision.

One such element is Abel's recurring "would it help?" response to Donovan, which could have been a humorous yet strong remark to build on Mark Rylance's character, and define crucial points in the film's dramatic development. Yet, what makes that great line loose its strength? It was used one time too many, one, one, one.

It is introduced at Abel and Donovan's first meeting, where it is perceived as a fun response, yet defines Abel's emotional stability and unbreakable moral and dignity. It is used a third and last time at the end of the movie, on the bridge, making a reference to the inception of their relationship, this time giving a more nostalgic feeling and reminding of their journey together. However, the point of failure is the second time, less than 15 minutes after the first use, feeling completely unnecessary, just making it repetitive and turning it into a disposable line, solely used for comedic effect and totally depriving it of strength and meaningfulness.

If used correctly and sparingly, only at the crucial story points, it would be a strong statement, together with the great "stoykiy muzhik" (стойкий мужик), connecting the the film's extremities, and each conveying the strength of one of the main characters. "Would it help?" as a symbol of Abel's aforementioned qualities, and "stoykiy muzhik" for Donovan's everlasting perseverance and belief.

But despite these lapses, Bridge of Spies is a generally well developed story, and is certainly very enjoyable, it just doesn't explore all the depth it could have.

Now, moving onto other aspects of film. As is expected from any Spielberg film, it looks stunning, having the incredibly talented Janusz Kaminski doing the cinematography as usual, and Adam Stockhausen doing an amazing job at production design. On the matter of sound, the sound design is dull but precise, and the soundtrack is limited to the point of near non-existence, both these together set a very characteristic and unique atmosphere for the movie.

Finally, the cast as a whole is generally strong. But in the main characters we have, of course, without needing any introduction, Tom Hanks as Jim Donovan, doing a fine job as usual. But the real highlight of this movie, comes in the form of Mark Rylance as Rudolf Abel, doing an amazing performance, capturing his character's every nuance.

So, to sum it up, Bridge of Spies is a fine movie, that just has a few slips resulting from the writer's limited experience, although most of those could probably be fixed merely with a re-edit. And it is undoubtedly worth watching.

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