Movies
“Spy Game” Is A Worthy Spiritual Successor To “Three Days Of The Condor”
“Spy Game” Is A Worthy Spiritual Successor To “Three Days Of The Condor.”
“Retiring CIA agent Nathan Muir recalls his training of Tom Bishop while working against agency politics to free him from his Chinese captors.”
Director: Tony Scott
Writer: Michael Frost Beckner, David Arata
Starring: Robert Redford, Brad Pitt, Catherine McCormack
Release Date: November 19, 2001
IMDB
Spy Game is a terrific movie and more people should watch it. Let’s start with that. Tony Scott’s international spy drama features thrills, action, a tinge of romance, and Robert Fucking Redford pounding his talented fist down on the table loud enough for everyone to hear and feel. There are some high impact explosions over the course of this caper, but nothing is as riveting as Redford’s performance. 26 years later, Spy Game is a worthy spiritual successor to Three Days Of The Condor (1975).
Interested yet?
Spy Game leaps from the present and to the past highlighting the unique relationship between soon to be retired Nathan Muir (Robert Redord) and his protege Tom Bishop (Brad Pitt). Muir is on his way out the door but a last call to action forces the veteran CIA operative to dive deep into his bag of tricks in order to save his young protege who has been taken into custody by the chinese.
The best sequences in Spy Game are when Muir is sitting at an office desk in a secluded area being interrogated by various higher-ups. The questioning is friendly and respectful, but various individuals are keen on understanding Bishop and what he was doing in China.
It becomes clear to Muir that the United States government is not keen on pulling Bishop out of trouble, so what does a man playing poker against an invisible foe do? He goes all in. Thanks to his years in the agency, both in and out of the field, Muir is able to play mind games with the best of superiors, doling out just enough information to seem helpful while withholding some of the key facts.
Spy Game is a political thriller that shows international relations both behind the scenes and in tangible action. We see Muir have to work around global economic agendas, navigate journalistic source-offs, and evade gunfire. Bishop’s time in the sun is all in the field, but the best stuff is done in the shadows.
Robert Redord, he’s still got it. Can’t say it enough. Yes, Spy Game came out in 2001, but if anyone watches it now, the first thing that’ll jump off the screen is the way Redford is dominating it. Redford gets top billing, over a man who would be accustomed to getting poster privilege for the rest of his career.
During the flashback sequences of Spy Game, Bishop is learning the ropes from Muir. He is learning how to work the job, blend in, get the job done, and not be obvious. If one wants to read into it, and it’s worth examining, one could say that Pitt is learning how to be Reford. Pitt is learning how to be a movie star, just as much as he is learning how to be a spy within the movie.
There is a symbolic passing of the torch occurring in Spy Game. There is a mutual respect that expands over time. Pitt and Redford had worked together previously on True Romance (1993), and their familiarity with each other helps with the unique father-son like relationship.
Redford is great and Pitt is good, but let’s not forget to appreciate Tony Scott. The man makes Spy Game a fantastic movie by making the action at the table as exciting as the action on the streets. There are a few high-stress sequences that are worthy of praise, but none more so than the explosion in Lebanon. The race to get the doctor in place, the weight of personal relationships and the necessity to complete a goal all join together in an explosive scene that forces your eyeballs to analyze every bead of sweat dripping off Pitt’s face.
Scott took some chances with Spy Game, including using his own money to rent a helicopter for the rooftop heart-to-heart between Muir and Bishop. Even Redford thought that Scott was a little strange, but now it’s impossible to not think of the movie without those orbital point of views.
The dizzying Tony Scott style is present in Spy Game, but the editing style is not as trippy as Man On Fire (2004) or Domino (2005). The plot is not as simple as a man seeking revenge for a kidnapped child, but for an espionage movie, the screenplay of Michael Frost Beckner and David Arata funnels the plot in an easily digestible way. Come the end, the audience can understand it all when Muir is on the phone making last minute shady deals with Baywatch obsessed Chinese businessman.
Spy Game is a surprise in the best way possible. Seek it out for a cheap rental if you want a smart action breeze. Also, if you need an appetizer for Man On Fire, you could do a lot worse than Spy Game.
STANKO RATING: A-
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