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 he CIA is a complex agency. It was originally created
after World War II to continue U.S. intelligence gathering overseas, taking over
from the OSS, but in the last 20 years or so it's become something of an enigma.
Some people look at the CIA as a single, shadowy monolithic agency that lives in
perpetual darkness; others see it as bumbling and inept. Maybe this is what the
CIA wants -- a divided public unsure of the agency's purpose. Maybe, in an odd
way, this was what they wanted all along, to keep everyone off-balance.
Personally, I believe the CIA is somewhere in the middle. Not entirely
monolithic and all-knowing, but also not entirely incompetent.
Whatever the truth may be, Tony Scott's Spy Game
takes place in the world of the intelligence operative -- or in '80s
terminology, the spy world. It's 1991, and the juggernaut that is the Soviet
Union is on the verge of collapsing, America is attempting to break through
China's trade barriers, and the Cold War is winding down. Robert Redford is
Nathan Muir, a veteran field agent who recruits and then trains Boy Scout Tom
Bishop (Brad Pitt).
The two works side by side as boss and protégé until a
mission gone bad separates them. They are sort of reunited on the day of Muir's
retirement when Muir gets news that Bishop has been captured and is presently in
a prison in China awaiting execution. Tony Scott shows us how Bishop got caught,
but the why of the matter is left for us to explore as Muir returns to work for
his final day in a desperate attempt to rescue his former protégé from the
jaws of death. Why is Muir so desperate to rescue Bishop? It seems Bishop didn't
have proper clearance to be in China and the CIA has no plans to rescue him --
even worst, the CIA has denied all knowledge of Bishop and has left him to be
killed. Why exactly was Bishop there in the first place? Muir may know more
about it than he's letting on...
The most interesting thing about Spy Game is not the
inner workings of the CIA. I was not entirely interested in the inner
machinations of the CIA or its inner personality conflicts. Muir's problems with
the newer, younger "kids on the block" has been done to death, and
this version of the conflict brings nothing new to the table. We know Muir knows
more than the upstarts and we know the upstarts don't respect Muir and what he's
done. Blah blah blah.
The real treat of Spy Game is watching Redford and
Pitt interact through the years. Redford's training of Pitt begins in Vietnam,
then quickly moves to early '70s Germany, which has been split into two
countries, East and West, then shifts to Lebanon during the bloody civil war of
the '80s. Scott films the four separate eras -- Vietnam, Germany, Lebanon, and
the present, which takes place in the CIA's main office in Langley Virginia --
in slightly different styles that gives each era a distinctive feel. Vietnam is
bleached out and brown; Germany is dark and brooding; Lebanon is bright and
chaotic; and the present is subdued and paranoid. Oddly enough, despite all the
action that takes place in the flashbacks, the most intense scenes occur in the
present, as Muir maneuvers through the politics and paranoia of various CIA
offices, and uses every trick that he once taught Bishop in the field to fight
the bureaucracy of the CIA.
Acting is superb by Pitt and Redford. Spy Game could
be seen as something of a passing of the torch, from the veteran Redford to the
young Pitt. Both men have achieved similar successes in the movies and are
famous enough that they could do any movie they choose. Within the wide confines
of Spy Game, which takes place over a span of 16 years, both actors play
their characters as not only aging physically, but mentally as well. Pitt's
Bishop goes from naïve sniper in the war to a smooth and manipulating spy, but
one that still can't shake his own inner goodness that makes him feel sorry for
the "assets" he is forced to use like tools instead of flesh and blood
people.
Redford's Muir goes from an agent who is all about the missions to a man
who risks it all, including his life pension, to save the protégé he hasn't
seen since Lebanon. While both men are portrayed as likeable, Muir has an edge
to him that makes him not a complete good guy. Indeed, we later learn in the
film that he, and others at the agency, may be more responsible for Bishop's
capture than we first thought. And yet, as played by Redford, Muir is as true
believer in the cause, and will -- and has -- done anything in his power for the
"greater good." Pitt's Bishop, on the other hand, can never fully
accept this doctrine as laid down by his mentor.
Overall, Spy Game is a very, very good movie. The
only fault that I can find comes toward the end, when the filmmakers wrap up the
film much too quickly, leaving very little room for tension. The climactic scene
should have been given more space to breathe and develop, but as it stands, the
ending feels rushed and did not have the suspense that permeated the rest of the
movie. It's a small fault, but unfortunately it does take place at a most
crucial point in the film.
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