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SPY GAME Send This Review to a Friend
If it's action you're after, "Spy Game" sparkles with entertainment power. What's more, Robert Redford delivers the action without ever having to take part physically, or even be seen bedding a dame. Brad Pitt is there for both the rough stuff and the sex stuff. This is a thriller that depends on Redford's machinations as a super-C.I.A agent, about to retire in 1991 after 30 years and spending his last day at work. But this last day is critical. He has to cleverly and deceitfully surmount overwhelming obstacles against seemingly impossible odds as the clock ticks toward the deadline if he is to save Pitt as a rogue operative the agency big-shots are about to let be executed in China without intervening for reasons of expediency.
The screenplay by Michael Frost Beckner and David Arata has a nifty if cluttered plot, an ultra-cynical tale depicting the world of espionage as a ruthless game in which an agent can't expect loyalty or give loyalty. Yet loyalty is what ultimately motivates Redford as Nathan Muir, who acts against all the tough advice he has always ordered his charges to follow. The melodramatics of the China operation is on target in its depiction of the shadowy, secret and ruthless tactics that have been and still are undoubtedly still being employed. The viewpoint is certainly timely in view of current secret operations in Afghanistan.
In "Spy Game" Redford is at the top of his acting game. With his lined but still handsome face and his durable charismatic charm, the actor makes Muir appealing, especially when he goes to work to outsmart the C.I.A. honchos from within and uses an array of wiles to pull off his rescue mission secretly. The story is fleshed out in flashbacks that take us to Vietnam, Berlin and Beirut. It was in Vietnam that Muir first met Tom Bishop (Pitt), whose skill and cool made him a valuable assassin under Muir's control. Catherine McCormack is convincing in a key role as Elizabeth Hadley, the aid worker who has been used and becomes romantically involved with Bishop, which leads to his plight in China.
Director Tony Scott employs a busy, mod score and hectic cinematography to drive the story and add tension. Sometimes, it's a bit much, but overall the effects work. "Spy Game" is always on the move, whether in the various locales or in the C.I.A. complex, from which Muir must work his long-distance maneuvers. Is the story credible? It doesn't really matter in this case because the tale is executed so entertainingly. I've heard grumbling that America is made to look bad by condoning some of the very tactics we now condemn. Come on. This is a movie. Let's not start trying to make action flicks politically correct. A Universal Pictures release.
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