Quick Flick Review: Bridge of Spies

While Steven Spielberg's unparalleled cinematic artistry alone makes Bridge of Spies required viewing, it's really the star power of Tom Hanks that commands the screen, sometimes a little too well for its own good.

Based on true events during the height of the Cold War in the late '50s and early '60s, Hanks plays James Donovan, an extremely affable-yet-shrewd Manhattan insurance attorney who is asked by the U.S. government to first defend and then negotiate the swap of captured Soviet spy Rudolf Abel for shot-down American pilot Francis Gary Powers.

The first half of the film toggles back and forth between Donovan's attempt to secure Abel a fair, impartial trial (not an easy task) and Powers getting up to speed on his super-secret U2 mission. The second half mostly unfolds in East Berlin as Donovan must not just negotiate the release of Powers, but a recently detained American college student as well. There are a lot of characters and moving parts to wade through at times, but Spielberg keeps things rolling along at an efficient pace. Every shot is meticulously framed and serves the story perfectly.

The one constant in all the action is Hanks' Donovan, the epitome of unflappable, seamlessly moving through the worlds of Madison Avenue and the federal court system with the utmost of ease. His suits are crisp, his confidence high and his snappy banter neverending.

You'd think by the time the CIA dumps him in East Berlin to more or less fend for himself, he'd start to show a little vulnerability, but it never materializes, and that, unfortunately, is where the character's believability begins to suffer a little. We realize we're being drawn in by the magnetism of Tom Hanks, not a fish-out-of-water insurance attorney.

While Bridge of Spies may come off as a bit of a star vehicle at times, it's still an extremely entertaining, well-made and well-acted film that reminds us how old-fashioned Hollywood craftsmanship can still deliver something truly special. Grade: B+

Quick Flick Review: The Martian

Ridley Scott's The Martian is grand Hollywood entertainment, full of thrills, humor and heart, all anchored by a masterful, Oscar-worthy performance by Matt Damon.

Scott's adaptation of Andy Weir's 2014 bestselling tale of an astronaut left for dead on Mars carries the director's usual visual flair and moves quickly to fit in all the science and problem-solving scenarios Damon and NASA must face to survive and effectively mount a rescue mission. It's a lot of data to digest at times, but it never slows the story, mainly because the film has strong supporting players like Jeff Daniels, Jessica Chastain and Chiwetel Ejiofor to effectively get its points across.

The film, though, truly belongs to Damon. His Mark Watney is an experienced scientist, smart and resourceful, but he's also a human being, alone on an alien planet and facing an increasingly grim chance of survival. Damon deftly toggles between both "realities" with the utmost of ease. We celebrate his triumphs and agonize in his defeats not because the story dictates it, but because we feel it from an affable, engaging soul that could just as easily be one of us.

The Martian is not just one of the most entertaining films of the year, it's one of the smartest, for its science and technology, but more importantly, for its humanity. Grade: A -

Quick Flick Review: The Walk

Robert Zemeckis' The Walk is truly a sight to behold on the big screen, a completely immersive, awe-inspiring experience that just may rank as the best 3D film Hollywood has ever produced.

Based on French high-wire artist Phillipe Petit's covert 1974 1,300-foot-high stroll between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, the film admittedly starts off a little slow as we spend most of the first half in France getting acquainted with our key conspirators, but once the action moves to New York for first the Mission: Impossible-like planning and then the eventual feat itself, we're buckled in for a ride of truly epic proportions.

The towers are living, breathing characters, looming larger than life amidst the hovering fog and platinum skyline. We watch breathlessly as the steel walking cable is extended between the seemingly mountainous cavern separating the two chrome-laded behemoths. Then, just as our hearts have quieted, Petit steps off and begins a nearly thirty-minute-long traversal, spinning, lying down, basically floating on air, and we're right there with him amongst the clouds, searching for breath again.

The film really is all about that thirty-minute walk. The always-good Joseph Gordon-Levitt gives an endearing, whimsical performance as Petit and both Ben Kingsley and James Badge Dale provide nice supporting work, but the characters are really never fleshed out and that unfortunately gives the film at times a bit of a hollow, empty quality.

But make no mistake, we're there for the spectacle and The Walk surely provides it a way unlike anything we've ever seen, especially on the big screen and even more so in 3D. Run, don't walk to see it. Grade: B+