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  • Reviews: Bridge of Spies (2015)
  • 2015 Films

Reviews: Bridge of Spies (2015)

Governing Committee October 15, 2015 6 minutes read

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bridge_of_spies

bridge_of_spiesHere are review links for this film submitted by our members:

  • Marco Albanese @ Stanze di Cinema [Italian]
    • Excerpt: Ad un passo dai settant’anni, di cui oltre quarantacinque impegnati a raccontare il mondo e la vita, Spielberg non ha bisogno di nient’altro: due semplici inquadrature che si sovrappongono o si richiamano. L’essenza del suo cinema è tutta in quelle immagini.
  • [New – 2/25/16] | Rick Aragon @ Rick’s Cafe Texan
  • Sean Axmaker @ Stream On Demand
    • Excerpt: The film features a period-perfect recreation of late-1950s America and a gloomily oppressive portrait of East Berlin after the construction of the Berlin Wall, a sharp screenplay co-written by Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, and the directorial signatures that remind us again that Spielberg is one of the great directors.
  • Chris Barsanti @ Film Journal International
    • Excerpt: In Steven Spielberg’s dramatically inert, fact-based Cold War thriller, Tom Hanks plays an insurance lawyer asked to defend a Soviet spy before being sucked into a dangerous Berlin prisoner exchange.
  • David Bax @ Battleship Pretension
    • Excerpt: In its extended first act, the film rushes forward excitingly. But when the scope broadens, things peter out like water exiting an unattended hose to splash uselessly on the pavement.
  • Nicholas Bell @ Ioncinema
  • Luke Bonanno @ DVDizzy.com
    • Excerpt: Bridge of Spies is definitely a film from the director of “Lincoln.”
  • Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat @ Spirituality & Practice
    • Excerpt: A terrific Spielberg portrait of an American hero whose zeal for justice is awesome.
  • Francisco Cangiano @ CineXpress [Spanish]
    • Excerpt: Impecablemente dirigida y actuada, Bridge of Spies definitivamente es de las mejores colaboraciones hasta el momento de estos dos gigantes de Hollywood. Llena de suspenso y negociaciones de trastienda, Bridge of Spies es de los mejores filmes del año, y merece tu atención.
  • Robert Cashill @ Popdose
  • Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
    • Excerpt: it’s not just the story but in its telling and Spielberg does it every kind of justice…This may be [his] best film since “Schindler’s List.”
  • David Crow @ Den of Geek
    • Excerpt: By returning to the Cold War, Spielberg finds a very current set of problems, beginning with how we treat those arrested as enemies.
  • Tony Dayoub @ Cinema Viewfinder
    • Excerpt: The really interesting story is happening outside of the drawing rooms where Donovan engages with his Russian and German adversaries, out on the streets of Germany where chaos has taken hold as the Berlin Wall is erected. Did I forget to mention that? BRIDGE OF SPIES buries its lede even deeper than I ever could, stowing away the most attractive and intriguing element in its tale to concentrate on the verbal and logistical parrying of Donovan as he tries to swap Abel for Powers.
  • Mark Dujsik @ Mark Reviews Movies
    • Excerpt: It’s always a pleasant surprise to be reminded that Spielberg can also display the light, comic touch that dominates the second half.
  • James Jay Edwards @ FilmFracture
  • Panagiotis Pete Gkaris @ Movies Ltd. [Greek]
  • Sarah Gopaul @ Digital Journal
    • Excerpt: ‘Bridge of Spies’ is a dialogue-heavy historical drama from Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, which manages to take its characters out of the typically stuffy back rooms and engage audiences for the entire length of its narrative.
  • Susan Granger @ www.susangranger.com
    • Excerpt: An enthralling espionage thriller with contemporary relevance…
  • Vadym Grygoriev @ kinoblog.com [Ukrainian]
  • Mark Hobin @ Fast Film Reviews
    • Excerpt: By taking a pivotal Cold War moment that was shrouded in secrecy, director Steven Spielberg deftly handles the problems of a perplexing storyline and distills it into something entertaining to watch.
  • Blake Howard @ Graffiti With Punctuation
  • Courtney Howard @ FreshFiction.tv
    • Excerpt: Spectacular supporting performances are what make up 90% of this film’s magic.
  • Charlie Juhl @ Citizen Charlie
    • Excerpt: Employing expert techniques including cinematography, production design, and costumes, Bridge of Spies is perfect at the science of filmmaking and bringing forth a specific time and place, but the art and intrigue side of the project does not pull equal weight. Bridge of Spies is an effective spy and legal game of cat and mouse, but it is not epic.
  • Benjamin Kramer @ The Voracious Filmgoer
  • Kristin Dreyer Kramer @ NightsAndWeekends.com
  • Don Lewis @ Flick Nation
  • Dan Lybarger @ ArkansasOnline.com
    • Excerpt: Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies is a brief for due process — the ancient concept that even the most vile of us are entitled to legal representation. Even though the film is set in 1957, Spielberg’s point is still valid and urgent.
  • Alan Mattli @ Facing the Bitter Truth [German]
    • Excerpt: It goes on longer than it needs to, but i delivers solid spy drama entertainment with a satisfying subversive edge.
  • Matthew McKernan @ FilmWhinge
    • Excerpt: Really good
  • Jason McKiernan @ Film Racket
  • Brent McKnight @ The Last Thing I See
  • Simon Miraudo @ Student Edge
  • Jared Mobarak @ BuffaloVibe
    • Excerpt: Through it all, though, we never lose the Spielberg sensibility of pure history—albeit sanitized save one violent burst—and complex characterizations. I credit this to the humor because it disarms tension and helps us empathize with all.
  • Stefan Pape @ HeyUGuys
  • João Pinto @ Portal Cinema [Portuguese]
  • Kristy Puchko @ Pajiba
    • Excerpt: It’s a meandering slog filled with old white men in suits arguing at length in various high-ceilinged rooms. Ultimately, not even all the charms of Hanks can save this film from Spielberg’s indulgences.
  • Jonathan Richards @ www.jonrichardsplace.com
    • Excerpt: The movie reaches a powerful dramatic climax on the bridge, and then sputters on a little further, reaching for a feel-good ending.
  • Jerry Roberts @ Armchair Cinema
    • Excerpt: What I love about this film is that despite it’s modern-day polish, it feels like a film from the Golden Age of Hollywood, when American films held the red, white and blue ideologies close to the chest. Most of this comes through a wonderful performance by Tom Hanks who gives us the kind of character that Jimmy Stewart use to play. Donovan is honest, but he’s also prone to think on his feet – he’s a lawyer. He sees Abel for what he is but he doesn’t dismiss him. There’s an admiration for this little man with a curious accent who seems unfazed by what is happening to him. Donovan is a good man who sets out to do the right thing, to bring home Powers and Pryor and use his legal know-how to do it.
  • Diego Salgado @ Guía del Ocio [Spanish]
  • Frank Swietek @ One Guys Opinion
    • Excerpt: Though fastidiously made, in terms of both its evocative period setting and its skillful emotional manipulation, in the end the picture comes across as little more than a solid piece of middlebrow uplift, respectable but not outstanding—good, but certainly not the most memorable work of either director or star.
  • Rob Wallis @ The Metropolist
    • Excerpt: combines the milieu of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold with the populism of Lincoln.

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