All that stands between lucrative diplomatic relations between the U.S. and China is Brad Pitt in director Tony Scott‘s stylish espionage thriller. In 1991, an impending trade agreement between the two countries is compromised when the CIA learns that Tom Bishop (Pitt), a long-lost rogue operative, is being held in Shanghai after trying to free an Englishwoman, Elizabeth Hadley (Catherine McCormack), from a People’s Liberation Army prison; mid-level case officer Nathan Muir (Robert Redford), who’s all of one day from retirement, is brought in to handle the situation, though he throws everyone for a loop when he tries to organize a rescue mission rather than giving his colleagues the okay to cut all ties from Bishop. We soon learn that Muir and Bishop have something of a venomous past that tore asunder their former mentor/protege relationship … and that there’s much more than meets the eye when it comes to Hadley, who once had a romantic relationship with her would-be rescuer. “Spy Game” reunites Scott and Pitt after “True Romance,” though the star is called upon to do a lot more than just sit on the couch and smoke pot this time around. – IFC Staff
