A thinking person's thriller; Spy Game employs dense plotting without sacrificing the kinetic momentum that is director Tony Scott's trademark. The film has the byzantine scope of a novel; focusing on veteran CIA operative Nathan Muir (Robert Redford); whose prot?g? Tom Bishop (Brad Pitt) is scheduled for execution in a Chinese prison. It's Muir's last day before retiring (clich? alert!); and Bishop is being deliberately sacrificed by oily CIA officials to ensure healthy trade with China. Muir has 24 hours to rescue Bishop and his perfunctory love interest (Catherine McCormack); and Spy Game connects the mentor's end-run strategy to flashbacks of his student's exploits in Berlin; Beirut; and beyond. Ambitious but emotionally bland--and not as exciting as Scott's Enemy of the State--Spy Game offers pass-the-torch humor between leather-faced Redford and pretty boy Pitt; and although their dialogue is occasionally limp; the movie compensates with efficient style and substance. --Jeff Shannon