150 Word Review: 'Spy Games' (2001)
Bros before foes
I like to think of director Tony Scott’s 2001 thriller Spy Games as a sort of sequel to its star Robert Redford’s 1975 classic Three Days of the Condor. In both, he plays a CIA agent who is especially good at paperwork. Spy Games reunites Redford with a young Brad Pitt, whom he directed in the excellent 1994 adaptation of Norman Maclean’s A River Runs Through It. Redford is an old timer and mentor who recruits Pitt and teaches him how to be a secret agent. This story is told in flashbacks: the movie is about Redford’s character trying to save his friend’s life from the Chinese, and Langley bean counters who don’t care about the bonds between James Bonds.
I don’t think Tony Scott has ever directed a boring movie. Spy Games is full of Scott-ism: quick cuts, dramatic close-ups, cutting-edge sunglasses fashion. Redford and Pitt are beautiful buds.
150 Review Repost: ‘Three Days Of The Condor’ (1975)
