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It's overall a good movie, entertaining and brings to the table some history of the Cold War that will be interesting for a generation that didn't experience it
The negative is that they were too cheap to actually shoot in Berlin and the scenes there are just not very convincing. The Russian Embassy is still in use - a very grand building built by Stalin on the Unter den Linden, really a palace, impeccably maintained. Looks shabby in the move, not the real thing and I think the settings in Berlin especially give a false impression. There are some entirely made-up, unlikely and improbable events, one of which, visiting a judge at home to talk about a pending case, would get a lawyer reported and punished. All of this kinda stuff is made up supposedly to advance plot, add human interest, and make it more entertaining, but I'm not sure that craziness does any of those things. Same with Tempelhof airport - the screen depiction understates that grand place.
Most people will like the movie and find something to learn about a forgotten chapter of history. I give it a B+
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Extremism in the defense of Liberty is no vice. . . Restraint in the pursuit of Justice is no virtue.
Senator Barry Goldwater, 1964
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