I remember visiting my grandmother's house in Mississippi when I was a young boy. She lived on this huge beautiful lake, equipped with sandy beaches and nice fishermen. No matter how much I begged, she would never let me go into the water.
She told me it wasn't safe, Well, being the curious growing boy that I was, I finally got up the nerve to hit the water one day. I quickly found out why I had been forbidden to swim in the lake.
The floor of the lake was a mud pit. It gripped my foot and wouldn't let me go. No matter how hard I tried to get back to the shore, the muddy bottom slowed me down and forced me to strain each step of the way.
Spy Game, the new Robert Redford flick, which also happens to star that other guy, Brad Pitt, is very similar to that lake in Mississippi.
When you are just sitting there watching the movie and enjoying the scenery, it is fine. But once you get into the plot. It is hard to get back out. Director Tony Scott (Enemy of the State, Crimson Tide) does his best to keep the plot simple enough to follow, but that causes some pretty big holes to develop in the story.
Redford plays Agent Muir, with the CIA. On his last day before retirement. Muir learns that his protege is being held in a Chinese prison for espionage.
His protege is Agent Tom Bishop (Brad Pitt). Being his last day on the job, the agency is reluctant to give Muir too much information on the case. All of his security clearance and classified access has been taken away.
Spy Game, is basically the CIA grilling Redford's character about his knowledge of Bishop. The movie is a series of flashbacks revealing how Muir and Bishop came to know one another and then work together.
In the process of the flashback stories, Muir is trying to use his skills to learn the truth behind the story he has been given.
The movie is fun at times, yet it is sometimes bogged down in story not offering enough present-day action. The scenes that do happen in the present are exciting and revealing. Pitt and Redford click on screen just as one would dream.
This is a treat for people who like war and secrets and movies that are about things that aren't what they seem. This is not a movie for those looking for fast-paced action and a clear-cut good guy and bad guy.
Grade: B-
R, 2 hours, 7 minutes
