Hopscotch, 1980 directed by Ronald Neame and staring Walter Matthau as Miles Kendig.
Kendig's boss at CIA tries to force him to retire. He balks at retirement and writes a tell-all book. CIA and KGB try to stop him. He leads them on a wild goose chase and finally fakes his own death by flying and destroying a biplane via remote control.
I like this movie because it is unusual for the spy movie genre. It doesn't revolve around gadgets or violence or sex as it does around duplicity and wit.
Long time case officer (Robert Redford) recruits Vietnam sniper (Brad Pitt) to become an agent working for the Central Intelligence Agency. Spy Game tells the story of the involvement of these two over a twenty-year period from the end of the Vietnam War to the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Whats important is that it shows that being a spy is not about the gadgets which are ancillary to the business but the trade craft that goes with being a spy. This movie is great because it shows the tradecraft that is actually used by spies in the real world.
My favorite spy movie is "The Recruit." It stars Al Pacino, Colin Farrell, and Bridget Moynahan and is directed by Roger Donaldson.
The film centers around the CIA. Al Pacino is a CIA recruiter and does a fantastic job in his role. He recruits Colin Farrell who is a brilliant computer science college student. While at the recruitment camp, Farrell meets and falls in love with Moynahan. Pacino soon learns of this and uses the knowledge to exploit Farrell. The exploitation shows that a CIA agent must "never get caught" and has to restrain feelings for others.
The second part of the movie starts when Farrell and Moynahan both are now employed by the CIA. Moynahan holds a mid-level job while Farrell is stuck at a low-level one. Soon, the audience learns that both are being secretly consulted by Pacino to help extract confidential information from the CIA database. As Farrell and Moynahan's relationship deepens, they learn more about each other's involvement and discover "nothing is what it seems."
The movie has a constant building of suspense until its surprising and shocking twist ending.
One of the main spy gadgets used in the movie are microscopic recording devices. These are used by many of the characters to spy on others.
Pacino and Farrell are both very convincing in the movie and the altercation between the two create for a great thriller. The beautiful Moynahan is also very good in the movie and is very convincing in her seduction of Farrell.
"The Recruit" is a great spy thriller and I highly recommend it for anyone.
