Bridge of Spies is a good, drama-driven film, telling the based-on-a-true story of some good old espionage in the early cold war. In it, Soviet spy Abel is arrested by the FBI, but not before he is able to destroy the evidence against him. With no evidence and a shaky search warrant to begin with, his lawyer Donovan (played by Tom Hanks), tries to get him off. The system is against him though, and he is found guilty. Donovan does avoid the death penalty for his client, arguing they may need him as leverage if an American spy is ever captured. Shortly after, this exactly happens when a USA spy plane is shot down by Russia. The rest of the film is the negotiations between Russia, USA, and communist Germany, all heading to an exchange in Berlin. Set in the backdrop of the Berlin wall going up and heightened tensions between USA and the USSR, this film has plenty of tension and the as-always excellent acting of Hanks.
Truth is another movie based on real events. This one tells the tale of the Killian documents news story, which eventually lead to the retiring of Dan Rather and firing of several journalists at CBS delving into the backstory of George W Bush’s time in the army reserves. Cate Blanchett plays lead producer Mary Mapes, who latches onto this story and (she thinks) gets all the evidence she needs to take the story to Rather (played by Robert Redford) and the team at 60 Minutes. When the public finds holes after the story airs though, and then some of her key informants recant, she is attacked from all sides at once. This one was OK for me, a little paint-by-numbers at times, but excellent acting hides some of the rote storytelling.
Wild Tales is just a fun, short little romp. A foreign film, it is an anthology of sorts, featuring 5 or 6 short stories, each a little outlandish but all very funny. I’ll give the example of the first one in the film. A plane takes off, and once in the air, the passengers start talking to each other and realize they all have one thing in common: they have each wronged an individual in some way. Not just a random individual, but the same individual. And guess who is flying the plane? This and other slightly-crazy stories are a little out there, but you will laugh at the antics. As a foreign film, you have to be ready for subtitles, but worth the watch.
I didn’t like A Brilliant Young Mind as much as the reviewers. Nathan is a gifted math genius, but struggles with relationships and people due to his fairly severe autism. As a teenager, he goes away to China to ready for a big math competition, and is forced to interact with others, something he has avoided due to his protective mom. I felt for Nathan and his struggles, and for his family, but there was only so much I could stand of the actor’s constantly confused faces. So much of the film focuses on Nathan when he is faced with challenges, and it grew weary by the end.
Straight Outta Compton is good for fans of the genre, and a stirring film too. It tells the tale of the rise and fall of NWA and early west coast gangster rap. Not sure how much of the film was true and how much was fiction, but it shows the early careers of Dr Dre, Ice Cube, Eazy E, as well as small cameos of Snoop Dogg and Tupac, and others. The film does a good job of showing the anger young black men felt at being targeted by police in LA in the late 80s, leading to their early bond. With the “white oscars” having just finished, I can understand renewed anger at no nominations for this group, though from an acting side, it really is a group effort and it is hard to single any one out. Jason Mitchell as Eazy E does take center stage as the film ends with his death to AIDS.
Jons Movie Takes 