SPY GAME
Released: November 21, 2001
CIA operative Nathan Muir (Robert Redford) is on the brink of retirement when he finds out that his protege Tom Bishop (Brad Pitt) has been arrested in China for espionage. Now, as a set up for a movie this is pretty good. So rather than spend the next 120 minutes in a thrilling rescue mission, we are given 120 minutes on Redford and Pitt's back history in the form of previous adventures the two shared. The actual rescue takes up about 90 seconds of screentime while we leisurely learn al about how the pair met 15 years previously. Not exactly the red hot fire of a thriller I was expecting, this Tony Scott ("Crimson Tide", "Enemy Of The State") production was still fun to watch just for the interaction between Redford and Pitt. It's a nice reunion of sorts for the actors who first acted together in 1992 in "A River Runs Through It", which Redford also directed. Of course the Brad pitt of 1992 is quite different from the present day version. His star has shone ever brighter with each passing film he stars in while Redford's output both as actor and director has slowly lost its lustre. Having said that, Redford is still amazing, witness his acting/directing in "The Horse Whisperer". If you've been waiting for a actioner with Pitt that is both stylish and intelligent, "Spy Game" will fit the bill but is not one of those overtly memorable movies like Pitt in "Twelve Monkeys" or "Snatch".
127 Minutes
Universal