Spy Game

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Singleton</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="580" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="269"><div> Nathan: Robert Redford</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><div> Tom: Brad Pitt</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Elizabeth: Catherine McCormack</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Gladys: Marianne Jean- Baptiste </div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="269"><div> Ann: Charlotte Rampling</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><div> Troy: Larry Bryggman</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Chuck Harker: Stephen Dillane</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><div> Director: Tony Scott</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="549" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 23 WIDTH="545"><div> The greater good</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B>Bottom Line</B>: A veteran CIA agent, enjoying his last day on the job, breaks some of his own rules to help save a fellow comrade <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Symbol" >¾</FONT> who he recruited and mentored <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Symbol" >¾</FONT> from execution.   </div> <bR> <div> <B>Story Line:</B> The concept of committing an act, which on the surface is bad so that long term good occurs, is the logic on which spies do some of the strangest things. Like Redford's recent film <B>The Last Castle,</B> this suspense story is somewhat by the numbers. Both are good movies, but this one is a lot more fun. It should be mentioned that both have a strong patriotic feel to them. </div> <bR> <div> Nathan (Robert Redford), on his day of retirement from the CIA, gets a call from one of his comrades that Tom (Brad Pitt) has gone "off the reservation" and been captured in a prison break. Later he learns that the CIA top brass considers Tom expendable, in part because of trade talks that the President will have in China within the week. Besides, they don't take kindly to unauthorized rogue missions.</div> <bR> <div> Nathan's assistant is Gladys (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), who like many loyal staffers will bet their job to help out their boss. In a highly secure, glass walled conference room, Nathan meets with various CIA managers, including the Director, Troy (Larry Bryggman), and Chuck Harker (Stephen Dillane). Troy and Nathan go way back and have respect for one another. Harker is a jerk who does the small talk when you know he cares nothing about that. Both times I saw the film, the audience laughed heartily when Nathan told Harker to, figuratively,  "stop feeling my ass and get to the point." What he is looking for is the personal file that Nathan has on Tom so they can determine the best strategy for dealing with the "situation." Nathan gives them only part of what they want, and since most of it is "in his head" he gets an invitation into the conference room at the big table.</div> <bR> <div> Nathan learns that because Tom is being held as a common criminal for a prison break, he's to be executed in 24 hours. As Nathan uses flashbacks to tell of his relationship with Tom, he learns where Tom is, and how he might be able to create an operation that will free him.</div> <bR> <div> The flashbacks are extremely well done and the remembrances tend to stand on their own, such as when Nathan and Tom were in Vietnam, West Germany and Beirut. The film had a documentary feel and look to it that made it move right along, keeping your interest all the time.</div> <bR> <div> Tom is really in a pickle and even though the film is more about Nathan, you learn to care what happens to Tom and want the smart asses at the CIA to get their comeuppance, or at least for Nathan to retire and for Tom to escape.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Tell Me More:</B> This could have been a much better film, if a few more things appeared to be plausible. It had the edge of <B>The Insider</B> but there were a lot of things that just did not ring true. It's a complex story that you get the first time and even more so in the second viewing. I liked it better the second time because I picked up on many of the nuances in the stories.</div> <bR> <div> Elizabeth (Catherine McCormack) is an activist on the undesired list of the Chinese government, as she was involved in a bombing in London, her home, which resulted in the death of the Chinese Premier's nephew. Nathan thought that it was best that he should separate Tom from Elizabeth and he now finds that he underestimated how much Tom cared for her. Beneath it all, spies do have feelings and <B>Spy Game</B> is more a love story than about the detailed operations of the CIA. </div> <bR> <div> <B>Spy Game</B> is a film to suspend disbelief in how smart some people can be while others (unfortunately, with power) are so dumb. But as it's proven over and over, the cold war is never over, so we need as many smart people as we can get. Most, we will never know and the greatest heroes are the ones that keep bad things from happening. Many are like the firemen and policemen whose names we don't know. They all deserve our respect, gratitude, loyalty and support.</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="591" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> Rated R for language, some violence and brief sexuality </div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> George O. Singleton © 2001</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> <A HREF="mailto:george@reelmoviecritic.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:george@reelmoviecritic.com"><U><U>George@reelmoviecritic.com</U></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> Mini Filmography </div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="579" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 ><NOBR><div> Robert Redford: <B>The Last Castle</B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="286"><div> Brad Pitt: <B>The Mexican</B></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 39 WIDTH="286"><div> Catherine McCormack: <B>Shadow of the Vampire</B></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="286"><div> Jean-Baptiste: <B>The Cell</B></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 ><NOBR><div> Charlotte Rampling: <B>Under the Sand</B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Larry Bryggman: <B>Hanky Panky</B></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="286"><div> Stephen Dillane: <B>The Hours</B></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Tony Scott: <B>Enemy of the State</B></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="286"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="286" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="286"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="286" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>