Spy Game (2001) from Johnny Web (Uncle Scoopy; Greg Wroblewski)

Spy Game centers on the relationship between Nathan Muir (Robert Redford), a jaded CIA agent on the verge of retirement, and Tom Bishop (Brad Pitt), a young idealist recruited by Redford in 'nam, 16 years earlier.

Pitt is now (1991) sitting in a Chinese prison, awaiting execution within 24 hours. The CIA fully intends to hang him out to dry, because they don't want the nature of his mission to be known, thus endangering delicate trade talks. Redford thinks this is a moral outrage, so he schemes to get Pitt rescued while he feigns co-operation with the CIA interrogators. Redford also has a complex personal reason why he feels responsible for Pitt's incarceration.

To tell you the truth, the interrogation is simply a clumsy plot device to develop the characters in flashback. Since the CIA has already made up its mind about Pitt, nothing that Redford would reveal could have any bearing on the execution. They could just as easily have held the interviews after Pitt's death, or even not at all. After all, why would the CIA care about getting the historical facts when they were just planning to lie about Pitt's involvement in China.

But then there would have been no movie, and no ever-ticking 24 hour clock.

You see, the ticking clock is the stylistic device which frames the film, accompanied by the usual clickety-clickety typing noises as the numbers appear on the screen. This shows us the exact time Redford has left in which to use his contacts and cut his own personal deal with the corrupt elements in the Chinese government, thus freeing the Pittmeister for an eighth year in Tibet. As the time winds down, the pacing seems get more and more frenzied. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean that anything actually happens. It simply means that the director uses more cuts, shorter cuts, and more energetic techno-music to convey the sense of urgency. Not to mention that those ubiquitous typing noises start to come closer together, as someone were now typing those numbers much faster than previously. The entire film plays out like a Devo video in fast-, ever faster, -forward.

It's always a pleasure to acknowledge a special contribution from someone, and the editor (Christian Wagner) did a yeoman's job here, putting together hundreds of cuts and computer graphic overlays in an intelligible fashion, doing it all in such a way as to create atmospheric effects without disrupting the flow of the narrative.

The plot itself is completely predictable and every twist is telegraphed, even in the flashbacks. For example, the idealistic Pitt disobeys a direct order from Redford in order to get an agent across the Wall safely and complete a mission, in the process risking his own life rather than letting the unfortunate man die without a chance. Well, if you watch these films regularly, you just know that the CIA already knew that the guy was a double agent selling information to the Russians, and they were only smuggling the guy across so they could dispose of him in their own way, but they didn't tell this to Pitt. Therefore, Pitt risked his own life in an attempt to save a guy marked for death by both sides. This was how he learned he should never disobey a direct order, because the field agents never have all the facts necessary to evaluate such matters accurately. Salute and obey, son.

Oh, I know I'm getting too picky with these plot details, but if it was just a matter of Redford paying a few hundred grand to a couple of sleazy guys, why didn't the CIA quietly do that in the first place? Isn't that the kind of thing they are good at? And surely a trained field agent is worth at least that.

Hey, kids! Can you spot the CIA agent in this picture?

Nah, he's probably just some 7-Eleven guy looking for some bottom-feeder land prices in expectation of the coming post-rubble convenience store boom. One thing about running c-stores in Beirut - you don't have to keep changing all those pesky window signs. In fact, there's not even much sense in putting up the windows.

No, wait, of course they were CIA, because they drove a taxi and/or a big black limo through a bazaar and knocked over several pushcarts. That's a sure sign that there are movie CIA guys in the Middle East. I have a Lebanese lawyer friend who manages to make a good living from five guys who push their fish carts in front of every CIA vehicle, just for the lavish insurance settlements.

In Lebanon they don't call this "ambulance chasing", but rather "trolling".