Spielberg channels Capra in patriotic 'Bridge of Spies'
A U.S. government official tells insurance attorney James B. Donovan that there's no rule book on the secret mission he's about to undertake.
Donovan, played by Tom Hanks, disagrees. He replies, "We have a rule book. It's called the Constitution." And by agreeing to follow that rule book, Donovan argues, "That's what makes us Americans."
This simple declaration not only establishes Donovan's character as a decent man of principle and loyalty to the supreme law of the land, but certifies "Bridges of Spies" as Steven Spielberg's finest tribute to fellow filmmaker Frank Capra.
Remember Capra? The Sicilian-born filmmaker who gave us the Jimmy Stewart classics "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington"? Sure you do.
Capra's movies celebrated the essential goodness of the common man - specifically, the common American - in stories about virtue and justice triumphing over materialism, deceit and cynicism.
Critics even coined a phrase to describe the filmmaker's idealist brand: "Capra corn."
Spielberg's fact-based drama "Bridge of Spies" stops short of corn, yet still celebrates the triumph of clear thinking, negotiation and big-picture considerations over ideology, self-interest and fear-mongering.
It's an amazing story, touching and laced with subtle comedy, built around the Russian capture of U-2 spy plane pilot Francis Gary Powers, shot down at the height of the Cold War during 1962.
"Bridge of Spies" begins in 1957 with the arrest of British-born New York painter Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance), accused of being a Soviet spy.
We know he's guilty. So does Donovan, a respected corporate attorney assigned to defend Abel by Donovan's New York law firm.
He knows he can't win. So he devises a defense to spare Abel from execution. Donovan argues that Abel should be kept in prison in case the Soviets capture an American agent. That way, the U.S. has something to trade.
It's good insurance, Donovan argues. And he knows all about the value of insurance.
Five years later, that insurance policy pays dividends. The U.S. offers to trade Abel for spy plane pilot Powers. The government taps Donovan to carry out the swap. Secretly.
The plot doesn't stop there.
The Soviets begin constructing the Berlin Wall in Germany. An American student, Frederic Pryor (Will Rogers), gets arrested while attempting to get his East German girlfriend through the Wall.
Donovan wonders, can he can use Abel to negotiate the releases of both men, the pilot and the student?
"Bridge of Spies" becomes less of a historical drama than a fascinating character study of an idealized American citizen, a devoted husband and father, whose intelligence and ability to see beyond self-interest make him something of an Atticus Finch for the 1960s.
Or, as Abel respectfully refers to him in Russian words, "Standing Man."
At 59, Hanks, in his fourth collaboration with Spielberg, now possesses a great character actor's face, a joyously rumpled countenance forged by life experience with lines of world-weariness carved into his forehead.
Yet, Hank's weathered face can't compete with the forlorn, sad-sack qualities of Rylance's Abel, a human version of Winnie the Pooh's Eeyore.
With his slack jowls, expressionless face and quizzical hyphens for eyebrows, Rylance becomes a bland, assuming part of a shapeless crowd, perfect qualities for a spy.
When Donovan asks Abel if he fears the death penalty, the spy shrugs his shoulders and replies, "Would it help?"
This becomes an endearing catchphrase in a succinct, sharp screenplay (by Matt Charman, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen) brought to visual life by frequent Spielberg cinematographer (and Columbia College grad) Janusz Kaminski.
If every man dreamed of becoming a James Bond during the 1960s, James B. Donovan actually did it, in his own Capra-esque way.
“Bridge of Spies”
★ ★ ★ ★
Starring: Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Alan Alda, Amy Ryan, Austin Stowell, Will Rogers
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Other: A DreamWorks release. Rated PG-13 for language and violence. 142 minutes