MovieChat Forums > Spy Game (2001) Discussion > Stylish but worthless Hollywood Hokum

Stylish but worthless Hollywood Hokum

posted 14 years ago by glendevan
6 replies | jump to latest

I didn't buy one bit of this nonsense. Not the hoary old "last day before retirement" trope we see in every other movie featuring someone over the age of 50. Not the performances. Not the plot, if you can even call it that.

And why do we have the tell the movie in stupid flashbacks? It's just annoying.

Gorgeous photography by Dan Mindel, and Brad Pitt sure looks great running around in those white trousers and raybans, but honestly...what is the POINT of this crap?

I'd like my money back please, but I'd settle for the 2 hours of my life back I just wasted. A real triumph of empty style over substance, at which Hollywood excels.

Major disappointment.

[–] nzpedals 11 years ago

I suggest you watch it again, and again on DVD.
Smell the coffee.

[–] Zuider_Zee 10 years ago

The point? Fluff entertainment; something to amuse you for a couple of hours. It isn't high art, it isn't significant, it isn't important, novel or groundbreaking. It was made to (1) make money for the studio and, (2) divert your attention for a bit.

[–] kfckid-365-296572 10 years ago

God save us from movies that have a 'point'....

'When you hang a man, you better look at him.'

[–] James_Camacho 8 years ago

You're not supposed to "buy it", you *beep* it's a movie -- a great one, too.

[–] SpinningPlatesTrick 8 years ago

Yes, because those two hours of your time were soooooo wasted. You're such a busy, important man, your time is incredibly valuable. It is an outrage that your precious time was wantonly frittered away on watching crap movies, and then posting about it on IMDB. I hope you take those incompetent filmmakers to the cleaners, mate.

[–] nufsaid16 (685) a year ago

It's entertainment---it's not that serious. The "last day" trope was essential given that Muir only had a short window of time in order to do what he wanted to do---which was to rescue Bishop. It wasn't that hard to figure out. And this was actually a pretty darn good spy thriller----it wasn't generic, lame or that predictable, and it was actually invested in its characters, and not just explosions and action scenes, of which there are plenty. You sound like you just only watched enough to get disgusting with it. It was actually better than I thought it was going to be, with some genuine suspense for some of the spy doings. Plus it was cool to see Redford, the old gun, passing the torch to Pitt, who was then the new gun in Hollywood movies. And both of them were fun and entertaining to watch, as well as the supporting cast. Regardless of what you think, it was actually a pretty good spy thriller.