Spy Game (2001)

Retiring CIA officer Nathan Muir (Robert Redford) learns that his protege Tom Bishop (Brad Pitt) is in trouble in Hong Kong. Muir’s CIA colleagues begin to dig in to his past, and the film then reveals his story in a series of flashbacks. The somewhat disjointed and bitty narrative focuses on specific incidents in Vietnam, Berlin and Beirut. 

It’s not quite the thriller you might have imagined or hoped for – mainly because Redford never gets out of the office. Somehow he is able to run rings around his CIA colleagues, even though they would’ve had the same training as him. As such, it’s an intriguing thriller that doesn’t quite work. The basic ingredients are good, and with more focus in the storytelling, it might have been more satisfying.