Bridge of Spies

Filmmaker Steven Spielberg's latest historical thriller is set in New York in the 1950s, during the simmering Cold War, as painter Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance) is captured and accused of being a Russian spy. Summoned by his boss (Alan Alda), insurance lawyer James B. Donovan (Tom Hanks) is assigned to represent Abel. A former assistant prosecutor at the Nuremburg trials, Donovan's known as a wily, pragmatic mediator. Although initially reluctant, Donovan is determined to defend his client, insisting on the “due process of law,” even when the presiding judge and the American public have deemed Abel guilty, and Donovan's wife (Amy Ryan) and family are harassed in their Brooklyn home. But then U.S. Air Force pilot Francis Gary Powers (Austin Stowell) is shot down over Soviet airspace, and Abel and Powers become pawns to be traded by their respective nations. So CIA director Allen Dulles (Peter McRobbie) directs Donovan to fly to Berlin to broker the covert, danger-fraught deal, which is further complicated by the arrest of a young American student, Frederic Pryor (Will Rogers), in the Eastern sector behind the newly-erected Wall. Based on Donovan's memoir, Bridge of Spies—co-scripted by the Coen brothers with Matt Charman—is an intensely suspenseful saga that benefits from sterling performances, particularly from Hanks and Rylance. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include “A Case of the Cold War” character featurette (18 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are the production segments “Berlin 1961: Re-creating the Divide” (12 min.), “U-2 Spy Plane” (9 min.), and “Spy Swap: Looking Back on the Final Act” (6 min.), along with bonus DVD and digital copies of the film. Bottom line: a solid extras package—on Blu-ray—for this Best Picture nominee.] (S. Granger)