Went to see Bridge of Spies.

Watched with some unease the first half of the movie as Tom Hanks and a Russian spy were the only good guys. Americans looked mean, frightened and wrong.

Now I’m not sure, given the Cold War fears, that Stephen Spielberg didn’t capture a lot of America’s less than positive side during that period.

But what bugged me was the depiction of Rudolph Abel, the Russian spy, as a cross between Santa Claus and the funniest old uncle in the world.

I did some research and indeed, Abel was not a very good spy. But he was a spy, not the most adorable, cheek pinching charmer that ever lived.

The focus changes some in the second half of the movie in Berlin where the Germans and Soviets were as mean and unlikable as Americans

Don’t get me wrong. The movie is very good. An interesting story told by a master

movie maker with the always wonderful Tom Hanks.

And I don’t mind the tough depiction of America during that period.

I just think it would have been a little more real to not have the convicted Russian spy who was part of a country on the other side of the Cold War, as the most warm and cuddly character in the whole movie.