| Spy Game | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Tony Scott |
| Screenplay by |
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| Story by | Michael Frost Beckner |
| Produced by | |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Dan Mindel |
| Edited by | Christian Wagner |
| Music by | Harry Gregson-Williams |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by |
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Release date |
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Running time | 126 minutes |
| Countries |
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| Language | English |
| Budget | $115 million |
| Box office | $143 million |
Spy Game is a 2001actionthriller film directed byTony Scott and starringRobert RedfordandBrad Pitt. The American–French–German–Japanese co-production grossed $62 million in the United States and $143 million worldwide on a $115 million budget and received mostly positive reviews from film critics.
In 1991, theUnited States andChina are close to a major trade agreement, with thePresident due to visit China to seal the deal. TheCentral Intelligence Agency (CIA) learns that its asset Tom Bishop has been arrested at aPeople's Liberation Army prison inSuzhou and will be executed in 24 hours unless theU.S. government claims him and bargains for his release. Bishop's actions, unsanctioned by the CIA, risk jeopardizing the agreement. A group of CIA executives summon Nathan Muir, a veterancase officer and Bishop's mentor, who plans to retire from the Agency at the end of the day. While purportedly interviewing Muir to learn his history with Bishop, the executives seek a pretext for not intervening on Bishop's imprisonment. Unknown to them, Muir was tipped off about Bishop's capture by fellow CIA veteran Harry Duncan, the Hong Kong Station Chief.
Muir leaks the story toCNN through anMI6 contact, Digby 'Digger' Gibson in Hong Kong, believing that public pressure would force American intervention. They are stalled briefly before a phone call to theFCC fromDeputy Director for Operations Charles Harker results in CNN retracting the story as a hoax. Muir met Bishop in 1975 when Bishop was aUnited States Marine Corps Scout Sniper during theVietnam War. Muir gives Bishop a mission to eliminate a high-rankingLaotian Army officer. Bishop and his spotter, Tran, assassinate the target despite being compromised, and Bishop downs a pursuing enemy attack helicopter. Bishop escorts the now wounded Tran to safety, impressing Muir. In 1976, Muir recruited Bishop as a CIA asset inWest Berlin, where Bishop was tasked with procuring assets inEast Germany. Then he discusses Bishop's spy work inBeirut in 1985, during theWar of the Camps, which was their last mission together.
In a series of flashbacks, Bishop is troubled by Muir's conviction that civilian "assets" who endangered a mission should be sacrificed to preserve the "greater good." After Bishop attempts to countermand Muir during a mission to save the life of an asset, Muir emphasizes that he will not tolerate dissent, and would not rescue Bishop if he was captured going "off the reservation". During a mission inLebanon, Bishop, posing as aphotojournalist, meets relief worker Elizabeth Hadley. While using her to connect with an asset for the mission, they became romantically involved. Muir distrusts Hadley and reveals to Bishop that she was exiled from theUnited Kingdom. Hadley later confesses to Bishop that she was involved in the bombing of a Chinese building in Britain, which was supposed to be empty but contained Chinese nationals. Bishop reveals to Hadley his true identity. Muir elects again to sacrifice a civilian asset for the sake of their mission, and Bishop cuts professional ties with Muir. Muir, fearing that Hadley could threaten the Agency and potentially Bishop, makes a deal with the Chinese, exchanging Hadley in return for an arrested U.S. diplomat. Chinese agents kidnap Hadley, and aDear John letter is forged and left for Bishop.
In the present, Muir realizes that Bishop went to China for Hadley. In a series of misdirections, he forges a directive signed by theDirector of Central Intelligence to begin "Operation Dinner Out", a rescue mission spearheaded by aSEAL team that Bishop had developed as a "Plan B" for his own attempt at rescuing Hadley. Using $282,000 of his life savings and a misappropriated file on Chinese coastline satellite imagery, Muir enlists Duncan to assist him in bribing a Chinese energy official to cut power to the prison for 30 minutes, during which the SEAL rescue team will retrieve Bishop and Hadley. Harker is suspicious that Muir is working against the CIA, but when he confronts Muir before the gathered executives, Muir "confesses" to unprofessionally using company resources to gather information about his intended retirement home, which he has distorted the evidence to support. Bishop is rescued along with Hadley and surmises that Muir was responsible for saving him when he hears the helicopter pilot refer to "Operation Dinner Out", which was also the code name for an operation Bishop used to get a birthday gift for Muir while they were in Lebanon. When the CIA officials are belatedly informed of the rescue, Muir has already left the building and is seen driving safely off into the countryside.
In addition,Garrick Hagon appears asCIA Director Cy Wilson.Benedict Wong appears as Tran.
An American–French–German–Japanese co-production,[1] it was shot inMorocco from November 5, 2000 to March 19, 2001, as well as in Budapest. The film was originally to be directed byMike van Diem.[3] Pitt passed on playing the title role inThe Bourne Identity for this project.[4] It made its worldwide premiere at the Mann National Theatre on November 19, 2001.[5]
The film was released byUniversal Studios Home Video onDVD andVHS on April 9, 2002.[6]
Spy Game grossed $62.4 million domestically (United States and Canada) and $80.7 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $143 million, against a budget of $115 million.[7] It peaked at No. 3, in its opening weekend, and spent its first five weeks in the Top 10 at the domestic box office.[8]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 64% of 135 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.2/10. The website's consensus reads: " The outcome of the kinetic Spy Game is never in doubt, but it is fun watching Robert Redford and Brad Pitt work."[9]Metacritic, which uses aweighted average, assigned the film a score of 63 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[10]
Roger Ebert of theChicago Sun-Times gave the film two and a half stars out of four and said, "It is not a bad movie, mind you; it's clever and shows great control of craft, but it doesn't care, and so it's hard for us to care about."[11]
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In 2022, Michael Frost Beckner, the co-screenwriter ofSpy Game, published a trilogy of novels featuring characters from the film:Muir’s Gambit,Bishop's Endgame, andAiken in Check.[12]
