CIA spy Nathan Muir (Robert Redford) has one day until retirement when he finds out that his protégé Tom Bishop (Brad Pitt) has been arrested in China for espionage. Aware that the American government might sacrifice Bishop as collateral damage in favour of a trade negotiation Muir sets out to use all of his learned tradecraft to set Bishop free.

When Spy Game released in 2001 Robert Redford would have been sixty-five years old and after watching Brad Pitt at the age of sixty-two years old racing F1 cars around and reminding me of Redford’s partner in crime Paul Newman I was inspired to return to this underrated gem. Brad Pitt has always seemed like a younger generation of Redford and his film partnerships with George Clooney seem to mirror Redford’s with Newman’s. Either way the sheer magnetism and naturalistic performances put them in the same bracket and this film feels like one that has shaped Pitt’s later career.

Opening in 1991 it is Muir’s last day before retirement and he is woken up to a tip that his protégé has been arrested. Racing into the office he manoeuvres his way onto the task force looking into the case just so that he can delay their progress, feed them misinformation and work behind the scenes with the help of his assistant Gladys (Marianne Jean-Baptiste). The main thrust of the plot is his battles in a meeting room with a man named Charles Harker (Stephen Dillane) who seems set on finding information on Bishop that would allow them to disown him. Intercut with those office scenes are Muir’s and Bishop’s relationship over the years from the point that Muir selected Bishop in Vietnam and became his mentor.

Whilst this may sound sedate it is anything but. Firstly we have Robert Redford chewing scenery delivering a superb performance of a man that is seemingly unknowable. He is insanely charismatic and simply superb throughout. Secondly this film is directed by the late, great Tony Scott who imbues it with all the kinetic energy he places into all of his films with large subtitles and swirling helicopter shots that make everything feel so immediate. This particular film was sandwiched between Enemy of the State (Gene Hackman and Will Smith) and Man on Fire (Denzel Washington and Dakota Fanning) when he seemed to specialise in the idea of an older father figure passing on their knowledge and protection to a young upstart.

As the film wraps and we understand what Muir has achieved and sacrificed in the space of twenty-four hours there is a real sense of wonder at what we have just witnessed. Redford and Scott were greats of cinema and its a glorious watch.