Grade: B/C
Brad Pitt has a knack for ruining retirements. He turned Morgan Freeman’s sour in “Seven” and preempted Harrison Ford’s in “The Devil’s Own.”
Most recently, Mr. Jennifer Aniston prevents Robert Redford from kicking off his shoes in the Bahamas in “Spy Game,” a film that had the potential to be a layered thrill ride but ultimately settles for entertainingly average.
The film takes the usual spy-flick fodder — espionage, mind games and shaken martinis — and attempts to spin it in a “new” way with multiple character struggles and fast-paced, fancy editing. But “Spy Game,” despite its mega star power, overloads the viewer without being terribly clever or creative.
Tom (Pitt) is trapped in a Chinese prison and slated for execution. Nathan (Redford, “The Last Castle”) is in Washington and slated for retirement. Having trained and worked with Tom, the powers that be at the CIA question Nathan on his knowledge of Tom as a person and as an operative. Not one to trust even his own denture adhesive, Nathan is cautious as to what he reveals about his younger protégé.
Through Nathan’s flashbacks, we learn of the romance behind how Tom and he met and fell in love with the spy life and each other’s egos. The back story is nothing new and nothing exciting, as we are already aware of the outcome and only moderately entertained.
Redford, who is supposed to age about 25 years throughout the film, looks no different in ’76 than he does in 2001, which is about 93 years old anyway you slice it. Yet his charisma shows through as he smooth talks the suits at the CIA and gives out fatherly spy advice to Tom.
While the storylines pile up around him, Redford slickly navigates through, pulling the viewer along and guiding the film the best he can. He seems to be aware of the uninspired piece of work in which he is involved, and while he reserves his acting guns for something more deserving, he puts forth some effort and redeems most of the film.
Pitt, on the other hand, does little more than phone in his performance. His character’s cock-sure demeanor is wasted; we are given no reason to believe why he should be so damn certain. He’s a good killer, or so we’ve been told, was once a boy-scout and he’s a good-looking man. Still, the protection of our country’s secrets should seem to go to those slightly more qualified.
What makes “Spy Game” interesting, though, is its simultaneous stories. While Tom is trapped on the other side of the world, Nathan is busy hoodwinking his bosses while trying to figure out what happened in China. At the same time, he tells stories of previous missions, which have elements of suspense and drama.
However, this creates a drawback for the film. The viewer feels pulled too many directions, unsure about where to lay his concern the most. Attention to Redford’s scamming and out-witting the CIA, the film’s strong suit, is overshadowed by worry for the pretty boy in the prison. The flashbacks have minimal suspense because, as stated before, the outcome is no secret. And the flashy editing, including black and white freeze frames noting the time, are absurd and belong on MTV, not a Redford picture.
The last time Redford and Pitt teamed up was for 1991’s “A River Runs Through It.” Pitt was a fresh-faced new talent and Redford had his place behind the camera as the film’s director.
Oh, how times have changed. Pitt has little business in front of the camera in “Spy Game,” which is disappointing as he has proven that he can be more than just a pretty face. Redford, although not at all a fresh-face, almost makes up for his co-star. As a director, his patient eye and character developing technique would have aided “Spy Game.”
But in the end, “Spy Game” is too caught up in dazzling the audience with its visuals and letting the potential of its stories fall through the cracks. Not even Brad will be able to delay its quick retirement to Blockbuster.
