Brown Motion

Simple, straightforward tale of bravery and integrity in the face of adversity and possible national disgrace, the lead role played by Tom Hanks is a most welcome movie watching experience.   Spielberg in the director's chair with Hanks and Rylance (a British stage actor I had never heard of who also won the Oscar for supporting role) acting out a Coen brothers written screenplay is good stuff. A story loosely based on some events of the cold war era portrays an insurance lawyer (Hanks) who is asked by the CIA to defend a Russian spy as his government provided counselor against a motivated and air tight case of the prosecution. Hanks defends him, risking his own life and that of his young family, as prescribed by the US constitution affording the Russian every right to a fair trial and even taking on the judge in private to consider all angles of his arguments. When found guilty of all charges Hanks continues to persuade the judge to be lenient on the sentencing for the spy,...