Piece of Cake: Tom Hanks Double Feature: Bridge of Spies

So, it's March already, and if you're in the Buffalo area, you see the snow out there. Looks like it's gonna be a little bit of a later winter than we thought! Hang in there, guys! But anyway, I am going to do a Double Feature with Tom Hanks! Don't worry, it won't be two movies in one review, that'd be way too much. This review is Bridge of Spies, and the next is Big. So I hope you enjoy!

B R I D G E O F S P I E S

The film begins with Mark Rylance, who plays Rudolf Abel, a supposed Russian spy. He is going about his day, being tailed by American spies.

Rudolf is very elusive, and is good at what he does. While out and about, he is painting

on an easel, and obtains a nickel from underneath the bench he was sitting on. He goes home and inspects the nickel, opening it to reveal information that he must relay back to the Soviets.

Shortly after opening the nickel, his house is broken into by the American spies and the FBI, who start tearing up his room, looking for anything to prosecute him with. Rudolf craftily gets rid of the sheet of paper that was in the nickel by cleaning his paint pallet, and the Americans aren't lucky enough to find it.

Rudolf is then shoved off to jail.

Tom Hanks plays James Donovan, a former New York Prosecution Lawyer, and current insurance lawyer. Here, we see him speaking to another lawyer, who is debating an accident with Donovan, because there was an accident between Donovan's client and the other lawyer's client. Donovan's client hit five motorcycles with a car, and the other lawyer is saying that there were five accidents, but Donovan explains with a fun analogy that it was simply one accident. He says that if a tornado sweeps away a house, it did not take every single thing with it, it took the one house, and that is what the insurance will cover, same as this is only one accident with multiple people.

Donovan is later called in by his employer, and the employer asks that Donovan take Rudolf Abel's case. They explain that Abel is a Russian spy, and they are looking to give him a Defense Attorney that will defend him in the court.

Really, the case is just for show, saying that America gave him a fair trial, but he's going to face punishment for being a foreign spy on U.S. soil. However, Donovan is an honest lawyer, and that means that he is going to follow due process of law.

Donovan meets with Abel, and they start building their case. Donovan goes through

procedure, and finds that everything that was found in Abel's home that connects Abel to being a spy was not properly confiscated. The FBI did have an arrest warrant, but there was no proper search warrant; therefore, all of that evidence should be void in the case.

He brings this before the judge that will oversee the case of Rudolf Abel, Judge Byers (Dakin Matthews). Byers doesn't like that at all, and allows the evidence to be used, which is technically not allowed, and should never have gone through with him. But Byers just wants to sentence Abel to the electric chair, and he'll do whatever it takes to get him there.

Donovan doesn't back down however, even when people shoot at his home trying to kill his family. Instead of giving into all of America looking at him with looks of disapproval, he appeals. He eventually takes Abel's case all the way to the Supreme Court, and he wins, allowing Abel to live.

Meanwhile, pilots have been recruited to fly in huge airplanes designed to take massive pictures of land masses while cruising at 70,000 feet. One of the pilots is Francis Gary Powers. Long story short, he's captured.
So after Abel's case, the U.S. and A figure out Powers is being held hostage, and the Russians have contacted the U.S. to negotiate a trade-off. Donovan is sent to negotiate the trade. However, when Donovan gets there, another U.S. kid has been captured. He had gone to Germany to study economics, and got caught on the wrong side of the under construction Berlin wall.
I don't want to bore you with anymore details, so I'll say that through much toil, Donovan negotiates the release of Powers and the Economics kid, and brings them both home safely. The reason the movie is called Bridge of Spies? You'll have to see for yourself.

Ratings:
Family Friendliness- 8/10 Spies: There are some scenes of gunfire, and only on one occasion do people die. Don't worry, there's no blood, but it's still a horrible thing to see. Not something for your 6-10 year old.
Story-line- 10/10 Walls: It is based upon a true story, and any true story is a good story, especially when you have the talent of Tom Hanks in the midst of it. This is definitely a quality movie to see, and it is touching. Good Friday night movie.
Overall- 9/10: This is a great film to watch, as I keep reiterating, and it really sheds some light on the whole situation of the Cold War and how serious it was. I'm sure there are plenty of other films that do the same, but from the few I know of, this has got to be one of the best.

B R I D G E O F S P I E S