It's been a while since we last heard from Steven Spielberg. The last time the prolific filmmaker sat in the director's chair, he gave us Lincoln and helped bag Daniel Day-Lewis a third Oscar in the process.
Politics remains the focus of his latest film Bridge of Spies. In this movie however, the wheeling and dealing has shifted from the courthouses of revolutionary America to the shadowy streets of cold war Berlin. This time, Spielberg's leading man is none other than two-time Oscar winner Tom Hanks and if the reviews are to be believed, his performance in this film may very well put him in the same club as Day-Lewis.
Bridge of Spies received a standing ovation during its premiere at the New York Film Festival. Early feedback from the critics has also been excellent. The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw awarded the film a perfect 5 star rating. He heaped praise on Hanks performance writing:
'Hanks gives a very satisfying, watchable and assured performance, with just the right amount of hokum, homely and wily in judiciously balanced proportions. Jimmy Stewart gave us Mr Smith Goes to Washington; Hanks gives us Mr Donovan Goes to Cold War Berlin.'
The Jimmy Stewart's comparisons continued in Time Out New York's review. Joshua Rothkopf says:
Hanks has never seemed more like a modern Jimmy Stewart, drink in hand, just looking to get home to his bed, as the script leans into its cavalcade of slightly bizarre negotiations with Eastern European goons.
The film will now doubt be a serious contender at next year's Academy Awards. Aside from Best Director and Actor nominations for Spielberg and Hanks respectively; pundits are tipping British actor Mark Rylance for his rousing supporting performance, Thomas Newman for his work on the score, and long-time Spielberg collaborator Janusz Kaminski for his cinematography.
