Movieo
Poster for Bridge of Spies

Bridge of Spies

In the shadow of war, one man showed the world what we stood for.

2015 · 2h 21m · PG-13 Drama, Thriller
Directed by Steven Spielberg

Seen it?

Overview

During the Cold War, the Soviet Union captures U.S. pilot Francis Gary Powers after shooting down his U-2 spy plane. Sentenced to 10 years in prison, Powers' only hope is New York lawyer James Donovan, recruited by a CIA operative to negotiate his release. Donovan boards a plane to Berlin, hoping to win the young man's freedom through a prisoner exchange. If all goes well, the Russians would get Rudolf Abel, the convicted spy who Donovan defended in court.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
91%
Tomatometer
Fresh

Bridge of Spies is a heart-on-its-sleeve affirmation of American values -- not in the loaded contemporary sense of the term, but in the way the country was founded on values we have to work and fight to abide by.

Alison Willmore, BuzzFeed News
Fresh

Authentic re-creations of the period, including duck-and-cover clips about a nuclear holocaust that frightened young students, serve as a reminder of a time, not unlike our own, when the threat of terror kept a steady and disturbing beat.

Nancy Churnin, Dallas Morning News
Fresh

Spielberg and Charman frame Donovan as a thin bulwark against the American government's attempts to work around its own supposed ideals at the height of the Cold War.

David Sims, The Atlantic
Fresh

Bridge of Spies connects Cold War paranoia to today's terror. That's a bridge worth building.

Amy Nicholson, L.A. Weekly
Fresh

When all the international parties finally meet up at the shadowy titular bridge, we get to witness humanity - and classic filmmaking - at its finest.

Mara Reinstein, Us Weekly

Comments

Talk about the film with other members

More films