The Bridges of Spies, directed by Steven Spielberg, is a movie based upon a true story regarding spies from both the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Tom Hanks ditches the Forrest Gump southern accent and takes on a law career negotiating foreign affairs. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) tracks down a Soviet spy working within the United States and Tom Hanks’ character, James B. Donovan, is chosen to represent him. He works with his client, Rudolf Abel, to acquit him of charges in America and return him to the Soviet Union unharmed. After successfully minimizing his client’s jail sentence, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has another important job for Donovan. He is to orchestrate an international trade between a Soviet spy captured in the United States and an American soldier found in the USSR.

Sent to Germany for negotiation and entering Berlin in midst of building the notorious Berlin Wall, he learns of an American student wrongly captured and held captive by the German Democratic Republic. Donovan attempts to negotiate with both the GDR and USSR in efforts to retrieve the American student and American soldier. Avoiding any spoiler alerts, the movie ends happily for every character involved.

Five stars are simply not enough for this movie. It is a historically based thriller, perfectly catered to history buffs like me. I am not an expert on the Cold War, but I feel as if the movie beautifully shares the entanglement between every country involved and how they worked together to protect the citizens of their country. Rudolf Abel, played by Mark Rylance, was a heartwarming character that Donovan could not view as an enemy, regardless of what the rest of America thought.

The Bridge of Spies was easily the best movie I have seen this year. Steven Spielberg has gained a new fan.