Ladies, you already knew it. Men, it’s time to admit it. Brad Pitt is one of the most talented and likeable actors around these days.
In his most recent film, Spy Game, Pitt teams up with the always enjoyable Robert Redford for a keep-you-on-the-edge-of-your-seat spy thriller.
The film presents the first occasion in which these two accredited actors have performed together onscreen, although Redford directed Pitt in A River Runs Through It.
Pitt plays Tom Bishop, a former CIA spy who, on a “freelance” assignment, is captured and imprisoned in a Chinese prison.
Upon hearing the news, his estranged former partner, Nathan Muir (Redford), who happens to be on his last day of duty with the CIA, feels obligated by honor to jump into the action one last time.
As if rescuing someone from a Chinese prison isn’t difficult enough, Muir must accomplish the mission nearly by himself and behind the backs of uncooperative CIA officials who apparently want to deny knowledge of Bishop, thus leaving him in the hands of an angry Chinese government.
It seems that Bishop’s capture has come an inconvenient time, as the U.S. government desperately wants to establish a new trade arrangement with China.
Oh, and there is one more minor detail. Muir has to pull this whole thing off in less than 24 hours, or Bishop will be executed.
Much of the film is spent in retrospect, as Muir details his relationship with Bishop to the unsympathetic CIA officials.
Muir explains everything from the time he recruited Bishop from Vietnam to their last mission together, a disaster in Beirut, which leads Bishop to furiously abandon Muir and the CIA.
Redford and Pitt have a believable, sometimes comical and altogether enjoyable on-screen chemistry and both give wonderful performances.
Fortunately the film avoids succumbing to typical cheesey action movie antics (stereotypical villains, car chases and huge explosions).
Original, interesting and exciting, the film is entertaining and worth seeing on the big screen.
It quite literally grabs the audience from its opening scene and does not let go until the final moments of the film.
Grade: A
