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Storytelling of 'Spy Game' overcomes lukewarm acting, ears three-and-a-half stars By
Bryce Casselman When I was a kid, I loved to play the game Stratego. It is a game where each opponent has a flag that they set somewhere on their own side of the board and then set up their forces to both try to defend the flag and attack the other side. The trick to the game is that you cannot see how your soldiers will fare until they are in the line of fire. The most unique piece in the game is the spy piece. If used correctly, the spy can take out the highest-ranking officer, as long as the spy strikes first. If the spy is challenged by any piece first, it is worthless. In Spy Game, the newest movie from director Tony Scott (Enemy of the State, Crimson Tide), two spies who have been abandoned by their team, work to change the rules of the game. Robert Redford (The Last Castle, The Horse Whisperer) stars as a retiring CIA Agent who, on his last day of work, finds himself trying to save the life of his protege, played by Brad Pitt (The Mexican, and the upcoming Ocean's Eleven). Pitt's character is being held in a Chinese prison and scheduled to be executed within the next 24 hours. Redford also learns that the CIA has no plans of trying to save his fellow spy's life. The movie takes us through much of Redford's and Pitt's characters' backgrounds, starting in Vietnam and coming full circle to the situation at hand. Through the history given we learn how Pitt's character must come to grips with the heavier aspects of being a spy and how true love should never play a role in a spy's decisions. Redford's performance was sound, but not extremely special by any means. Also, Pitt's performance was also lukewarm, which is not typical of past roles for him. The meat of the film came in the form of realistic sets and detail. The most remarkable element of the film is found in the detail that Scott put into duplicating the older television photographic images with the technology that was available at the time. When television clip was supposed to be during the 1970's, it looked like it. In a few words, this movie is masterfully put together. Other notable performances in the film were given by Marianne Jean-Baptiste (The Cell), who plays Redford's secretary, and Catherine McCormack (The Tailor of Panama), who plays Pitt's love interest in the film. Overall, Scott very carefully set up his pieces in this film to completely encompass the viewers and absorb them in beautiful details and well-acted characters that drove the film without the need for high-tech gadgets or unneeded extreme violence. Spy Game stole my heart with three and a half stars.
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