If there is one profession that hasn’t gotten a good reputation in films, it’s that of a lawyer. But when it’s both Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg who want to tell the story of a certain real-life lawyer, then this man has to be someone worthy.
Bridge Of Spies is set during the Cold War when the CIA hires insurance lawyer James B. Donovan to defend an accused Russian spy, Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance). The intention for the hire is to show to the public that the American government is all about giving a fair trial to everyone.
What the CIA did not foresee is that Donovan is a man who is not afraid to do what is right. Hence, the spy gets one heck of a lawyer.
But that is only the start of what Donovan is about to do and achieve. His services are needed again when he is asked to negotiate with the Soviet Union to hand over a captured American spy in exchange of Abel.
With a screenplay written by Matt Charman, and Joel and Ethan Coen, Hanks is at his best again – giving a voice to a man who may seem ordinary in all sense of the word but is really exceptional.
In a transcript provided by Twentieth Century Fox, the Oscar-winning actor described his character as a born negotiator: “He’s Irish, tough, and does not give an inch. I was fascinated by the character’s complexities, but also knew it would be a challenging role.
“It was an odd combination of having to be very internal to let the character come out and very external in all the prose that went along with it, so I knew it was going to be an awful lot of talking, and the talking was about reasoning to win.”
In the film, audiences learn what kind of man Hanks’ character is through his interaction with CIA agents and with the Soviet spy. Even when he is branded unpatriotic for defending the enemy, Donovan stands by his client.
Hanks, 59, gave an insight on Donovan’s thought for what he did: “Donovan felt that Abel was just a guy doing his job. He’s a spy, and we have guys over (in Soviet) doing the same thing for our country.
“We cannot be so hypocritical as to send this guy to the electric chair for doing a job that he’s been sent to do, because that would mean that our guys over there could suffer the same fate.
“And I believe that Abel was surprised to hear this argument from a man who was his advocate... it was not just some sort of legalistic ploy on his part, it was what he believed. It was an irrefutable fact, and that played itself out through the relationship.”
Hanks knows a thing or two about working relationship, having worked with director Spielberg in three other films prior to this: Saving Private Ryan, Catch Me If You Can and The Terminal.
“Steven and I have a pretty good shorthand,” said Hanks.
“I would come in with an enthusiastic idea for how to go about the scene and Steven would say, ‘That’s great, because what I want to do is play it all the way from back here, and if you’re moving around like that, that’s where the eye is going to go.’
“When you show up on Steven’s set, it has already been built, not only physically, but deep inside his head. Your job is to do exactly what he wants you to do, but he also expects you to add in all the little things he expects you to come up with.”
This is not the first time Hanks has played a lawyer either. Back in 1994, he won the Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of AIDS-stricken lawyer Andrew Beckett in Jonathan Demme’s Philadelphia.
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