Critic Reviews

James’s sleek telling excels at intertwining the personal and the political with illuminating detail.

In contrast to the complex psychodrama of Nolan’s opus, A Compassionate Spy is a gentle and intimate film, largely narrated by Hall’s wife, Joan, who was 90 at the time of filming. She tells a love story.

A Compassionate Spy borrows the look and feel of a historical espionage thriller and builds some momentum and moral complexity along the way, but it finds its real potency as a generational family drama.

It’s worth being reminded by James’s layered, grippingly told account of a principled betrayal that when it comes to the biggest threats facing the globe, sometimes one person in the right circumstance can make a difference.

A Compassionate Spy is intimate and modest, more about a marriage than geopolitical tensions.

The film demonstrates its director’s characteristic nose for strong material and knack for gripping, straightforward storytelling.

This absorbing, thoughtful film doesn’t take sides; that’s not James’ way.

In preparing A Compassionate Spy, James seamed together a spellbinding collage concerning the life and times of Ted Hall and his family. It is a wonderful documentary, and I encourage everyone who wants a greater sense of the story of the Atomic Age to check it out.

Steve James’ film not only convinces you to believe that a compassionate spy can exist but also to have compassion for a man who committed a traitorous act. And even though the editorial choices are leading in their execution, it’s no secret that A Compassionate Spy is a moving, thoughtful documentary.

The film leaves no doubt Ted Hall was a brilliant man, and that he and Joan had a beautiful marriage. His legacy beyond that remains a subject of intense debate.