Directed by Tony Scott
Story by Michael Frost Beckner
Screenplay by Michael Frost Beckner and David Arata

Robert Redford .... Nathan Muir
Brad Pitt .... Tom Bishop
Catherine McCormack .... Elizabeth Hadley
Stephen Dillane .... Charles Harker
Marianne Jean-Baptiste .... Gladys Jennip
Larry Bryggman .... Troy Folger

Produced by Marc Abraham (producer), Armyan Bernstein (executive producer), Thomas A. Bliss (executive producer), James W. Skotchdopole (executive producer), Iain Smith (executive producer), Douglas Wick (producer)
Original music by Harry Gregson-Williams
Cinematography by Daniel Mindel
Film Editing by Christian Wagner

MPAA: Rated R for language, some violence and brief sexuality.
Runtime: USA:127

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Spy Game:
Original Motion Picture Score
Harry Gregson-Williams
1. Su-Chou Prison 2. Muir Races To Work 3. He's Been Arrested For Espionage 4. Red Shirt 5. Training Montage 6. Berlin 7. It's Not A Game 8. You're Going To Miss It 9. Beirut, A War Zone 10. My Name Is Tom 11. All Hell Breaks Loose 12. Explosion & Aftermath 13. Parting Company 14. Harker Tracks Muir 15. The Long Night 16. Muir's In The Hot Seat 17. Back At Su-Chou Prison 18. Operation Dinner Out 19. Spies 20. Dinner Out

I saw Robert Redford's character as a great example of God the Father. He especially exemplified how God's mercy works with His judgment.

God's judgment says, If you go off the ranch, I am not going after you. You are on your own. Yet God's mercy says, if you do go off the ranch and I find out about it, albeit clandestine, I will do everything in my power to bring you back. I won't just leave you to die. I can't, because you are mine.

The most powerful scene of the movie was when Brad Pitt's character heard the helicopter pilot say the code name of the rescue operation and he broke down into tears because he realized who had sent the rescue party. Brad Pitt's character knew that he had been given up for lost. But this man who recruited him and taught him everything that he knew - who had declared in no uncertain times that if necessary, Brad Pitt's character Tom would be terminated if he broke the rules, was overwhelmed by the fact that this same man found him and rescued him. Tom knew he had messed up in the worse possible way. But he was saved anyway.

I see so many Christians who are like the CIA Agents in the conference room, looking for a reason to leave Tom to die and justify it. My own mother did that to me. My brief testimony - I grew up in a Christian home. My parents are judgmental holy roller types. I rebelled. I committed the gravest sin in my mother's eyes - I got pregnant out of wedlock. I thought that for sure God too would abandon me. After all, I willfully broke the rules. I purposely ran away from the ranch. I told God that I was angry at Him for withholding sex from me, so I was going to have sex with the next man who found me to be attractive.

I had never fully experienced God's mercy and grace until that incident. Instead of condemning and abandoning me, God embraced me with open arms and said, "I still love you. I will do everything in my power to rescue you. I won't leave you to die. I can't, because you are mine." God spared my life. I had a tubular pregnancy and could have died, but I miscarried. God sent two awesome Christian women to help me. They didn't judge me like my mother did. They helped me. God restored me. I am married now to a wonderful man who loves God with his whole heart and is a far cry from being a holy roller.

I didn't want to be so verbose. I just want to send a message to all you Christians out there that are so adamant about being holy and righteous and so quick to declare God's judgment. Yes, there are consequences for sin. Just like the law of gravity - sin breeds death and destruction. But how can one say that God reveals in the fact that people who choose sin are destroyed? We often have no concept of who God is. How can we say that knowing the excruciating pain Christ went through on the cross to save people? To save us? How can we think that God is pleased by gleefully telling people that their actions are sending them to hell in the name of being "holy and righteous"? We say that Christ lives in us. Where is the evidence? Where is the compassion He exemplified that so engulfed Him that He was moved to tears crying, "Jerusalem Oh Jerusalem! I wanted to enfold you in my love like a mother hen would her chicks but you were not willing!"

Those of you who take pride in calling yourselves holy rollers and fundamentalists -you are in danger of being the modern day Pharisees and Sadducees. So many people are lost because they can't get past such self righteousness. No wonder Jesus chased them out of the temple with a whip. People can't get to God because of such people- because of all their rules, rituals and regulations. The Pharisees and Sadducees missed the boat. They got so caught up in the rituals and rules, they forgot what they were for.

I love my husband. I hug him, kiss him and yes, have sex with him, not because these are my "wifely duties" but because I love him. God gave us His law to enable us to express our love for Him and to be able to experience His love for us. When the law prevents you from experiencing or expressing God's love - or as in Spy Game, when following the rules becomes more important than saving a man's life, something is seriously wrong. As this movie demonstrated, when its one of your own, you find a way to bend the rules. That is exactly what God did when He incarnated Himself as Jesus Christ. He found a way to bend the rules in order to save us. For that I will be eternally grateful.

BULLETIN BOARD (rules)
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SPY GAME
Subject: SPY GAME
Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2002
From: "AL CRACKENBERG"

I APPRECIATED ILAYNA UTLEY'S REVIEW. I SAW THE MOVIE WITH MY WIFE AND DAUGHTER AND WAS EXPECTING "A WOMAN'S MOVIE" WITH HEART THROBS AND LOTS OF TEARY MOMENTS, BUT WAS SURPRISED BY THE SUBSTANCE OF THE MOVIE. BOTH PITT AND REDFORD DID GOOD JOBS WITH THEIR CHARACTERS, FLESHING OUT REALISTICALLY EACH MAN'S MOTIVATION AND ACTIONS AS CIRCUMSTANCES DICTATED. THERE WAS A LOT OF SUSPENSE WITH THE FLASHBACKS AND THE PRESENT SITUATION. IT KEPT ME OFF BALANCE JUST ENOUGH TO KEEP ME INTERESTED IN THE CHARACTERS AND WANTING TO FIND OUT HOW THE ISSUE RESOLVES. ILAYNA'S TESTIMONY WAS AN EXCELLENT WAY TO DESCRIBE THE MORAL OF THE STORY. HAVING CHILDREN OF MY OWN, I DO HOPE SHE HAS RECONCILED WITH HER PARENTS. EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE THE HOLY ROLLER TYPE, I'M SURE THEY ARE PLEASED SHE HAS FOUND A LOVING MAN AND IS HAPPY.
AL CRACKENBERG

REVIEW OF SPY GAME
Subject: Spy Game
Date: Sun, 16 Dec 2001
From: Ray

I enjoyed Ilayna's review, having seen the film the night before I read it. What immediately came to me while reading it was the story of the prodigal son, who had also "left the ranch". Every day, the father's great love for his son compelled him to sit beside the road on which his son had departed in the hope of catching a glimpse of his familiar form. God's heart is like that. He loves us, yearns for us to return. But, unlike the earthly father, God engages in active pursuit of us, using all the means at his disposal to bring us back into the fold.

I don't agree with the reviewer, however, that God bends the rules for us, as Nathan did to save Tom. The Bible says "Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin". This is a deep, mystical truth that we can't fully understand. God does not wink and say, "Aw, shucks, let's just forget about that and let the little critters off." He couldn't do that, because the truth of it is written into every atom of our universe, which has a moral as well as a physical nature. What God does is satisfy the law by sending his very own dearly loved son, Jesus, to shed his blood for the sins of all mankind -- a whole lot pricier than the $282,000 (Nathan's life's savings), some clever subterfuge, and several well-placed phone calls which achieved Tom's freedom.

Is "Spy Game" an illustration of grace? Absolutely! Nathan' s love for Tom motivates him to orchestrate the escape of the younger agent, even after he (Tom) has broken Nathan's rule that "If you go off the ranch, I am not going after you." Grace always has its roots in love, and God's grace toward us is rooted in his great love for us.