Tagged: Spy Game

Spy Game: Tom Bishop, Beirut War Correspondent

Brad Pitt as Tom Bishop in Spy Game (2001)

Brad Pitt as Tom Bishop in Spy Game (2001)

Vitals

Brad Pitt as Tom Bishop, experienced CIA operative and U.S. Marine

Beirut, Summer 1985

Film: Spy Game
Release Date: November 21, 2001
Director: Tony Scott
Costume Designer: Louise Frogley

Background

Halfway through Tony Scott’s espionage thriller Spy Game, we get to the operation that led to the expository situation of rogue CIA agent Tom Bishop (Brad Pitt) landing himself in Chinese captivity in the midst of secret trade negotiations.

As his one-time mentor Nathan Muir (Robert Redford) explains to agency top brass, Bishop arrived in Beirut in 1985 under the cover of a photojournalist (“he was good, he was talented, he had a good eye… probably had a photography merit badge stuffed in the drawer at home”) to try to get close to the family doctor of their target, Sheik Salameh. Along the way, Bishop breaks the rules and falls for one of his assets, a mysterious Brit named Elizabeth Hadley (Catherine McCormack), and is eventually forced to choose between his assignment and his amour. Continue reading

Redford’s Spy Game Tuxedo

Robert Redford as Nathan Muir in Spy Game (2001)

Robert Redford as Nathan Muir in Spy Game (2001)

Vitals

Robert Redford as Nathan Muir, experienced CIA case officer

Berlin, Winter 1977

Film: Spy Game
Release Date: November 21, 2001
Director: Tony Scott
Costume Designer: Louise Frogley
Redford’s Costumer: David Page

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

When Nathan Muir is being questioned by the CIA about his history with Tom Bishop (Brad Pitt), one particular incident that receives attention is Operation Rodeo, best remembered by Muir as “the Cathcart affair” for the involvement of embassy mole Anne Cathcart (Charlotte Rampling).

Vivaldi’s “Spring” concerto from The Four Seasons, performed by Nigel Kennedy and the English Chamber Orchestra, cuts in as the film flashes back again to Berlin in 1977. Muir is in black tie with a glass of single malt in his hand, accompanying his “cousin” (Andrea Osvárt) to a party where the two encounter the enigmatic Ms. Cathcart. Continue reading

Redford’s Fisherman Sweater in Spy Game

Robert Redford as Nathan Muir in Spy Game (2001).

Robert Redford as Nathan Muir in Spy Game (2001).

Vitals

Robert Redford as Nathan Muir, experienced CIA case officer

Berlin, Christmas 1976

Film: Spy Game
Release Date: November 21, 2001
Director: Tony Scott
Costume Designer: Louise Frogley
Redford’s Costumer: David Page

Background

After recruiting the talented Tom Bishop for an assassination in the closing days of the Vietnam War, CIA case officer Nathan Muir determines that Bishop would make a fine operative for the agency. Nathan pulls the strings to isolate Bishop for more than a year, secretly assigning the young Marine to a lonely post in Berlin.

Muir then shrewdly chooses Christmas – a vulnerable holiday for lonely folks – as his opportunity to swoop in with a “chance encounter” at a train station. Bishop joins Muir and one of his wives for a Christmas party that evening, and their decade-long career is born.

What’d He Wear?

Nathan Muir provides a comfortable and fashionable way to layer for a winter party. Continue reading

Spy Game: Redford’s Herringbone Tweed Sportcoat

Robert Redford as Nathan Muir in Spy Game (2004).

Robert Redford as Nathan Muir in Spy Game (2001).

Vitals

Robert Redford as Nathan Muir, shrewd CIA case officer

Langley, VA, April 1991

Film: Spy Game
Release Date: November 21, 2001
Director: Tony Scott
Costume Designer: Louise Frogley
Redford’s Costumer: David Page

Background

After Brad Pitt spent roughly the first decade of his career being compared to Robert Redford, Tony Scott’s Spy Game paired the two actors as a world-weary CIA officer and his idealistic trainee.

The bulk of the action is set in April 1991 as the Cold War is whispering its final breaths and the world’s intelligence agencies begin looking for a new paranoia to exploit. Agent Tom Bishop (Pitt) has gone rogue, and his mentor Nathan Muir (Redford) is called in on the last day before his retirement to lend a helping hand to the new generation of overseers. Continue reading

Spy Game: Redford’s Brown Leather Jacket in Beirut

Robert Redford as Nathan Muir in Spy Game (2001).

Robert Redford as Nathan Muir in Spy Game (2001).

Vitals

Robert Redford as Nathan Muir, shrewd CIA case officer

Beirut, Summer 1985

Film: Spy Game
Release Date: November 21, 2001
Director: Tony Scott
Costume Designer: Louise Frogley
Redford’s Costumer: David Page

Background

Robert Redford finally teamed up with his spiritual successor Brad Pitt in the 2001 action hit Spy Game, directed by Tony Scott. Redford played Nathan D. Muir, the veteran CIA operative who took rookie Tom Bishop (Pitt) under his wing. Muir’s cynicism eventually clashes with Bishop’s idealism after nearly ten years on the job, and the two split after a morally disastrous mission in Beirut during the Lebanese Civil War. Continue reading