In many Steven Spielberg films there is a contradictory pull. On the one hand he is famed for rousing portrayals of connection (think of Elliott and E.T. or the mission to rescue Private Ryan), though some find his lyrical depictions of home and hearth overwhelming, his conclusions heavy on the heart-strings. On the other hand, his stories are laced with fracture and divorce, with imminent disaster and dubious benefit. Elliott may bond with E.T. because his own home has become alien after his father’s departure. The saving of Private Ryan takes so many lives. Is the America that the stateless guy seeks in The Terminal really so desirable after all? So a fact-based Cold War drama about negotiations to exchange a Soviet agent (captured in New York with secret information on microfilm)