I mean, how can you go wrong with a match-up of Robert Redford and Brad Pitt both sporting shaggy 70’s hair and aviator glasses? Redford still has the same twinkle as he did in The Sting even if his features are more rugged. And Pitt looks rediculously boyish. They both pull off the action scenes beautifully.
But interestingly enough this is an ode to the man of action versus the bureaucrat. It’s a tribute to those in the game, taking risks, collecting information and then proceeding on the next move. It doesn’t sugar coat the pitfalls. The wins are often not pubically celebrated. Acting under the radar and with superior efficiency, those who perform push the story along.
Addendum (10/26/23) The scenes from the situation room in the film keep rolling back through my memory. The director, Tony Scott, was truly masterful in the staging. Here are the bureaucrats, all dressed in outfits, encased in a steel and glass conference room. Through the glass, we are shown a control room with blipping computer screens and underlings running hither and yon. The bureaucrats have everything at their disposal: computer power, people power, resources.
Redford is part of the group yet not. He plays by their rules. Yet he has his means of reaching beyond the room for help. He is nimble, and independent, but never arrogant. He knows how to use the yearning of being included to motivate others to help him. He knows who to pull social levers and leaves the power levers to those in the control room sitting in their three piece suits.
Tony Scott is clever in showing off the workings of Redford by spotlighting him in the situation room.
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