Hey folks, Harry here with a pair of reviews for a movie that I am very much looking forward to. SPY GAME! There is a rule for me to greatly look forward to all TONY SCOTT films... they aren't as arty as Ridley's, but they have a watchability quotient that just skyrockets. Then there is my Robert Redfore 'SPY' rule, basically, if Redford plays an investigator, a spy or anything covert... I love the movie. And then there's the Brad Pitt, damn he's been making a string of really good movies (ok THE MEXICAN was a minor hiccup, it was better than it was bad). Now folks, this film isn't due out till near CHRISTMAS so realize, there will be a great deal of changes made... The score will be laid down, the editting will be tightened and in the end... Well, the movie should be in really great shape... or so I hope... But this word is encouraging....
Hello Harry...
Blah Blah longtimereaderfirsttimewriter Blah Blah. So...
I just saw Spy Game, new Tony Scott direction of Robert Redford and Brad Pitt...and...wow...it was cool. First of all, I'd like to say that the people at the screening didn't collect my form saying I couldn't disclose anything...so...I think I'm clear (legally)...oh well.
Nathan Muir (Robert Redford) is a CIA agent on his last day on the job at Langley when he hears that an old protege of his, Tom Bishop (Brad Pitt) has been captured, and goes on explaining to a panel investigating the incident of their meeting in Vietnam and Bishop's ensuing training once Muir recruits him into the agency, while trying to somehow save Bishop from his current predicament.
Now, this version had no titles (except the "Spy Game" spread across the screen), a temp soundtrack (with cuts from another soundtrack, but can't place right now), and some choppy quality in a few scenes...the tall, slanky man who addressed us at the beginning of the film assured us that all would be rememdied by final release in November.
Romance is in this film, although is not all-encompassing...this is a rare movie that seems to last longer than it does simply because you learn so much from the fast pace. You'll be surprised by how much ground is covered in the two hours you spend glued to your seat.
Sadly, I'm in no state, mental or physical, to extrapolate farther, but if you want more information just reply in a few days and I'll get something more coherent and in depth...hopefully I can become a semi-frequent help to your site...just...I guess I was driven to put my claim in to this information first...so...
Pappy signing out
Meanwhile here's a review that felt that the film was iffy at the moment. But hey, that's what Test Screenings are for... the hone the flick to a sharp edge. Tony Scott does marvels with this process, so I totally have faith...
Hey Harry! Call me 'dkaz' if you must. Just got back from the "first public showing" of Tony Scott's new film 'Spy Games' starring Brady Pitt and Robert Redford.
I'll keep this as spoiler free as I can. Although touted as the usual "work in progess, temp. score etc" the movie looked pretty much finished. It's about a retiring ol' CIA spook (Redford) who's old trainee has gotten captured on a personal mission in China. While the CIA tries to find a way of seperating themselves from their troubled agent (read: blame him for something and dismiss the fact he's their agent) , Redford briefs them on his background with Pitt, and behind their backs tries to get him out of the mess.
The majority of the film takes place in a CIA conference room where Redford is being interviewed by some top brass, and in a couple of long flashback sequences (that he narrates) in Vietnam, Cold War Berlin and finally the one that takes up the middle of the film in Beirut. While the present tense interview is suppose to deal with Robert's slowly decieving of his soon to be ex-bosses, the flashbacks are suppose to build up Pitt's and Redford's relationship, giving a basis for what's happening in the present.
The plot on paper sounds more ambitious and contentful (that's a word right?) then it really is when passed through the filter that is known as Tony Scott. To be honest, I love True Romance, and Crimson Tide, and Enemy of the State was fun, but I've never been a Fan (hawhaw) of the other Scott-he's got too much Bruckheimer in him. The script, though having its subtlely funny moments (a lot of the Redford interview trickery is played for laughs), mostly lacks pizazz and Tony doesn't seem to know what to do without exciting material. Redford handles his lack of content decently, sorta like how the cast of The Score handled their lack of content decently-they do the best with what they can-and so Redford's old spy can be described as 'nice'. Not particularly interesting, but he handles a few well directed scenes with a wry, small humor that gives his character some depth-but the rest of it is just him talking and talking to the other spooks about Pitt, or the situation he was in, or the situation Pitt was in-he spends a lot of his screen time acting as a narrator to the story, not as a character.
I can say one thing for Brad Pitt- it sure is nice to see him handle a bland role well. Pitt is becoming known as a good actor through his odd roles like '12 Monkeys' and 'Fight Club' and it really is reassuring to see him take such a depthless role as this and really put some life and depth into a character that has neither. Not that his portrayal is particularly good, but like Edward Norton in 'The Score' he takes weak material and shows he can go above and beyond just the script.
As stated above, Tony Scott doesn't do the plot summary justice. What we get here is a film that jumps every 15 minutes either back to a very nicely set, but very inconsequensial background flashback, or flash forward to the present for some dull debriefing. Now I must give each portion of justice-each does have it's pleasures. It's quite wonderful to see Beirut portrayed in a movie, in fact the location itself brightens up a slow middle portion of the movie, for it's really not a place films tend to showcase (actually it reminded me a lot of Kubrick's converted gasworks in 'Full Metal Jacket' that doubled for bombed out urban Viatnam. Pretty bleak comparision). And the present time trickery and interviewery of Redford gives way to some funny, well played if generic double crossing. We've all seen this kinda stuff before, but the cast handles it particularly well so it helps speed up the otherwise tedious nature of that plot element.
Since this is still techinically a work in progress I don't really want to conclude anything from the screening, the film had it's flaws that can be fixed (a quasi-ridiculous ending) and some that can't be (a main portion of the film is set in the same room)-but I woud like to add a few comments. I like the material Scott choose, ambition wise it was a larger undertaking than anything he's done and in theory he got it to work (although not really work very well), and I hope he learns from this and picks another large target for his next film and succeeds. I'm releaved Pitt can finally handle bland material, and it's fun to see Redford play a spy (although you only really see this briefly), and I also enjoyed a lot of the scenery in the film, some of which is very well shot, some of which is not so well handled-which really sums this film up well: it's hit and miss. Problem is, when it hits the movie never rises above 'interesting,' 'fun' and 'okay', and it does miss a lot as well. As it stands it is worth seeing like 'The Score' is worth seeing: good cast, interesting setup, not very well executed but the parts can be worth the sum.
Dkaz
