Tag: spy thriller

GHOSTED (2023) – Review

Hard to believe, but we’ve not taken a trip into “rom-com” land in 2023. Really? Has this staple been dormant for several months, but with those warmer Spring temps, well, where do most hearts venture? Oh, and since we’re getting nearer to Summer this one’s a hybrid as it’s really a “rom-com-spy-thriller”.This isn’t rare as we’ve seen this played out for at least 30 years, going back to Arnold and new Oscar darling Jamie Lee in TRUE LIES (which inspired a recent CBS TV series). And in the last dozen or so years we’ve had the big “spy reveals” in KNIGHT AND DAY (Tom Cruise) and KILLER (Ashton Kutcher), not to mention the double reveal in MR. AND MRS. SMITH (Bradgilina begins). Well, this new one has a bit of a twist in that the undercover agent is a lady. Plus it also takes a few jabs at modern dating rules and manners, using the social media “online verb”, GHOSTED.

The lady in question is Sadie Rhodes (Ana de Armas) who is feeling down as she returns to her Washington D.C. home after a tough “work trip”. She’s got to stock her fridge, so she drops in at a local farmer’s market. Manning the houseplant stand for a neighbor merchant (after she chides him about his latest dating “dump”), Cole Turner (Chris Evans) tries to help Sadie pick out a potted plant, which leads to a disagreement (she can’t nurture it) that someone ends as a day-long (into the night) first date. Back at his parents’ house (he’s helping out at the farm after his pop was injured) Cole is bummed that Sadie’s not returning his voicemails and texts. His kid sister insists that he’s been “ghosted” for being “needy”.Aha, he accidentally put one of his inhalers in her purse that day and it has an online “tracking” chip. So where is she? OMG, London! His folks encourage him to make a grand “romantic gesture” and since Cole’s got an old airline voucher, so…Across the pond, Cole hones in on a secluded spot where she should be. Instead, he’s jumped and drugged by a quartet of muscled goons. When he awakens, a grinning creep threatens Cole with torture unless he gives them the passcode for something called Aztec. Luckily a black leather-clad hooded hero swoops in with guns blazing. When the dust settles, and his bonds are cut, Cole is shocked to see that his rescuer is Sadie! She’s not an art curator, but rather a CIA operative code-named the “Taxman”. Somehow they have to get past the awkward dating etiquette (“Emojis count as texts”), get Cole out of Pakistan (he was “out” for a while), and stop a ruthless French arms dealer named Leveque (Adrian Brody) from selling the destructive Aztec device to the highest bidder. And then maybe, maybe there’ll be a second date.

Of course, the main component to make a rom-com work is the chemistry of the two leads. Aside from being incredibly photogenic (I can imagine animated hearts floating from the lens), there’s genuine affection present, even as they bicker, as we get hints of the tension increasing the desire. Evans channels the affable charm he projected as the first Avenger into a not-quite-cool everyman (but with the “ultra-handsome). Sure it’s tough to believe Cole’s poor dating history, though the awkward, often clueless demeanor hints at a reason. And Evans does sell the whole “out of his element” vibe, although we’re reminded that Cole was a high school ‘rassler. At least the promise of de Armas as an action goddess has been realized here after her too too brief role in the last Bond flick. She’s super cool and sultry as she dispatches the baddies, plus she too kicks in the charm key in the romantic first meeting “dance” around Evans. Sadie’s an enigma for most of the story, so de Armas really brings out her vulnerability when she finally opens up about her past and her current “occupation”. Brody camps it up as the effete sneering villain and is given great support by his main henchman, the cold-blooded, threatening Mike Moh as Wagner plus Tim Blake Nelson channeling his inner Peter Lorre as the sadistic Borislov (nice name). Though seeming a bit too youthful to be Cole’s folks, Tate Donovan and Amy Sedaris are warm and befuddled as the parents, while Lizzie Broadway brings the right amount of sassy snark to the role of Cole’s kid sister.

After scoring big hits in the musical bio genre with ROCKETMAN and as the rumored backup for BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY, director Dexter Fletcher deftly juggles the rom-com beats and the big action set-pieces. He eases into the changes in tone to insure viewers won’t feel a “whiplash’ in going from the comedy to the explosive thrills. And the film benefits greatly from the many delightful cameos, but I won’t spoil them (perhaps some of his MCU brethren…mmm). Fletcher really gets his leads to commit to the adventure, but they can’t quite get past the uneven script as it begins to echo sequences in superior action epics, with a ludicrous finale that apes a Hitchcock classic (the old merry-go-round). And what adult would really think that traveling across the world after a first date is a great idea (for once the kid sister is right)? Obstacles are predictably tossed in the couple’s path, but we’re sure that there will be last-minute reunions and that Cole will “step up” to be worthy of Sadie’s love and respect. Evans and de Armas are a terrific pairing, but they deserve something more original and clever than the rehashed cliches of GHOSTED.

2 Out of 4

GHOSTED streams exclusively on AppleTV+ beginning on Friday, April 21, 2023

THE 355 – Review

(from left) Graciela (Penélope Cruz), Mason “Mace” (Jessica Chastain), Khadijah (Lupita Nyong’o) and Marie (Diane Kruger) in The 355, co-written and directed by Simon Kinberg.

So who’s ready to start 2022 with a bang? Or rather several bangs, lotsa’ chases, mixed-martial arts “throw-downs”, and more than a few teeth-rattling explosions? Well, this action extravaganza may be just the ticket, at least that’s what the studios and multiplexes are hoping for. Perhaps this’ll be the “franchise-starter” that will make up for the recent “franchise-enders” like the sputtering Matrix and Kingsmen, though the ‘web-spinner will keep swinging past more box office records. Oh, I neglected to mention that this flick’s action stars are all women. No, it’s not another reboot of CHARLIE”S ANGELS or a follow-up to OCEAN’S EIGHT. Yes see, they’re not private-eyes or con-artists. These ladies are secret agents who form an elite “rogue squad” known as THE 355.

This globetrotting adventure begins in the palatial estate of a drug kingpin in Colombia. Ah, it seems that he’s wanting to “diversify” as he sets up a “buy” with an arms supplier to international terrorists. So, what’s the weapon being offered up? A” mega-bomb” or a laser cannon, perhaps? Nope, for want of a better name, let’s call it the “Destructo-Driver Device”, an item the size of a cell phone that can hook into the internet and shut down cities, blow-up planes, and cripple national economies. Luckily some soldiers intervene before the “hand-off”, with one man, Luis (Edgar Ramirez), scooping the DDD up for himself. A bit later, the CIA learns of the DDD and brokers a “sale”. The “exchange” will be the next “super-secret” mission for top agents, and old pals, Mace (Jessica Chastain) and Nick (Sebastian Stan). Unfortunately, a rival German agent, Marie (Diane Kruger) botches the deal at a cafe in Paris. A jittery Luis brings in some “back-up” from his homeland which includes DNI agent/psychologist Graciela (Penelope Cruz). As Mace tries to “regroup” in the wake of a tragedy, she enlists an old friend and colleague, MI-6 computer whiz Khadija (Lupita Nyoong’o). When the DDD is grabbed during a “retrieval” of Luis, an uneasy alliance is formed. The female quartet track down the DDD to Morocco to stop that original arms dealer from finally acquiring it. But the women soon discover that they are trapped in a power plot with double and triple-crossers who will eliminate them and their loved ones with no hesitation in order to seize the “prize”.

Talk about your diverse, “planet-scanning” cast! Heading up this “multi-country” crew is the talented Chastain, who displays her considerable leadership skills and physical prowess. She’s confident in the big action “set pieces”, never just doing spy “cosplay”, giving her dialogue the same gravitas as any of her many somber dramatic roles. Mace is a pro, but we see the painful toll being collected with every groan and shudder. Kruger makes a formidable counterpart, and often reluctant cohort. This “hyper-focused” loner is the story’s “wild card”. Marie often pounces like a just uncaged beast, as Kruger’s wild-eyed glare tells all to “back off”.The inverse may be Nyong’o’s “Khad” who is almost a sister to Mace, sharing a warm bond and a dangerous past. But Nyong’o gives her a hesitancy and frustration at having to get “back in the game” again. She insists it is the “last round”, but her tired eyes tell us that she’s not optimistic. But still, Khad’s a calming influence on “Grizzy” the “office civilian” suddenly thrust into combat. Cruz conveys her confused panic as the bullets whiz past while she attempts to crawl inside her purse (perhaps burying her head in the sand). By the tale’s midpoint, she’s taking more of a stand, but Grizzy finally agrees to join the fight in order to protect her family. Oh, around that time the foursome adds a member with the cool, sinewy Bingbing Fan as Lin, the mysterious, enigmatic Chinese agent Lin. As for the “token males”, Stan balances charm and ferocity as the energetic Nick, another old pal of Mace, though he wants much more than shared missions with her. And Ramirez brings great intensity to the somewhat small role of Luis, the main catalyst for the whole race against the clock.

Surprisingly this thriller’s not based on an existing property, as it seems to fit with many similar comic book flicks. Perhaps it’s due to its director, Simon Kinberg, who has scripted many of those “tentpoles” and directed the most dismal entry of a big comics series, X-MEN; DARK PHOENIX. Plus he also produced this and co-wrote it with Theresa Rebeck and Bek Smith, which is the start of this new original flick’s many problems. While striving to be different with its unique casting, the screenplay somehow uses so many tired “undercover agent” cliches that I was literally calling out the twists and even bit of dialogue with great frequency. This might have been “fresh” and “edgy” 30 years ago, but ATOMIC BLONDE and last year’s BLACK WIDOW really shook up the genre while truly making us care about the ladies behind the lethal kicks and quips. Each “operative” is reduced to a tired trope that regurgitates the same spiel too often. Khad is, as Pete’s pal Ned calls himself, “the guy (or lady) in the chair “pounding a keyboard until the “we’re in” scene ender. But it’s not as tiresome as Grizzy’s mantra of “I must get back to my babies!” while trying to push away an offered weapon. There are so many things “wrong” that we must wonder if the script was rushed through. Is a phone call being traced, today (“keep her on the line”)? Then there’s the scene in Morocco with everyone but Mace in headscarves. And what’s her attire? It looks to be one of Victor Lazlo’s suits (with massive fedora) from CASABLANCA. And though the film wants to show how the women are as tough as their male counterparts, they still have to go “in disguise” at a swanky party, sporting tight, cleavage-baring gowns (of no use in combat). Yes, a group of actresses can headline a big loud bombastic popcorn flick. And it can be just as tiring and devoid of wit or logic as the fellas. Oh, they and we deserve much much better. The talented quintet will be back for better films, but this is hopefully the last mission for THE 355.

1/2 Out of 4

THE 355 is now playing in theatres everywhere

SIX MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT – Review

Judi Dench as Miss Rocholl in Andy Goddard’s “Six Minutes to Midnight.”
Courtesy of IFC Films. An IFC Films Release.

A Nazi-run boarding school for girls on the British coast? Sound preposterous but in fact there really was such a school, which is the inspiration for the period spy thriller SIX MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT.

Judi Dench, Eddie Izzard, and Jim Broadbent headline the film, a Hitchcock-like British historical thriller set in the summer of 1939, just as WWII loomed. The Augusta-Victoria College is a finishing school for German girls at Bexhill-on-Sea on the southeast coast of England.

The film has been a pet project for many year for Eddie Izzard, who grew up in the area., and not only stars in the film but co-wrote the script along with co-star Celyn Jones and director Andy Goddard. The idea sparked when Izzard visited a Bexhill museum and saw the school’s insignia patch, which features a small Swastika along side a British flag.

The school, which existed from 1932 to 1939, was intended for German girls, many of them the daughters of the Nazi elite, to learn the English language and about English culture, as part of a plan to spread Nazi ideology to Britain. Actually, Augusta-Victoria College was one of many international schools in the area prior to WWII, in an area long noted for such foreign-run boarding schools. However, this is a fictional film. While it is it is unclear what, if any, of the story is factual, although it seems likely that British authorities were keeping an eye on the school as tensions rose prior to the Nazi’s invasion of Poland in 1939.

After the mysterious disappearance of the school’s previous English teacher, teacher Thomas Miller (Eddie Izzard) goes for an interview as a replacement for the job at Augusta-Victoria College for girls at Bexhill. He is interviewed by the German school’s British headmistress, Miss Rocholl (Oscar-winner Dame Judi Dench), who describes the school as a place to promote understanding between British and German people. She chooses to focus on that aspect of the school rather than its Nazi sponsorship, and is genuinely devoted to “her girls” and their care and education. Although the headmistress is less than impressed with Miller, who has a spotty employment history, she does need to quickly find a replacement to maintain the girls’ English language skills. In the end, she agrees to hire him on a trial basis, swayed in part by the fact that he is half-German and bilingual.

Miller isn’t there just to teach English but to keep tabs on the German school. The school is on summer break and only the other teacher who seems to be present is the physical education teacher Ilise Keller (Carla Juri), who drills the girls in exercise routines and takes them on outings to the beach to swim. On one such seaside outing, they make a shocking discovery – the body of the former English teacher, which has washed up on shore. The discovery sparks tensions at the school, mirroring the tensions rising on the international scene as war approaches.

With everyone on edge, a tale of secrets and espionage begins. There is a distinct Hitchcock flavor to this spy thriller set in the late ’30s, specifically echoing THE 39 STEPS, although the plot is wholly different.

Audiences are used to seeing Eddie Izzard in comic roles or doing stand-up, so seeing him in a straightforward dramatic role is a bit of a shift, yet the actor handles is well. He couldn’t have better supporting cast with Dame Judi, who plays the well-meaning if deluded headmistress, and Jim Broadbent, who adds the comic relief as a colorful, outgoing local bus driver who ends up playing a critical role. Izzard’s co-writer Celyn Jones plays a policeman, a crafty veteran of the last war, who is assisting the local police captain, played by James D’Arcy, in investigating the events around the discovery of the body of the missing man.

Many characters are not what they seem, and secrets, betrayals and chases abound. Izzard’s Miller is very much a Hitchcock character, a man falsely accused of a crime who must go on the run to clear his name, although Miller has his secrets too.

Unsurprisingly, the acting is excellent, particularly Dench’s portrayal of the well-meaning headmistress, whose affection for “her girls” blinds her to what is really going on. Dame Judi gives a touching performance as the headmistress, so devoted to her young charges that she is willing to ignore the glaring warning signs right in front of her. As the spy thriller story unfolds, her position becomes more tenuous and she reaches a breaking point.

The rest of the cast also do fine work, with Celyn Jones and Jim Broadbent particularly memorable in their smaller but pivotal roles.

The whole tale is set in the scenic British countryside, with the stately home that houses the school, the area’s picturesque historic sites, and the lovely rolling hills and windswept coast. The sets and period details are just right, and scenic location setting adds both to the film’s visual appeal and its authentic feel.

Those period details include that Augusta-Victoria school crest, with its unsettling mix of British and Nazi symbols, which so struck Izzard when he first saw it.

SIX MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT offers fine historical spy thriller entertainment, nice performances and a glimpse into a little-known, curious bit of British history. It opens Friday, March 26, at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Cinema, and Marcus’ Chesterfield, Ronnie’s, St. Charles and Arnold Cinemas.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

THE COURIER – Review

Benedict Cumberbatch in THE COURIER.
Photo Credit: Liam Daniel. Courtesy of Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions

Benedict Cumberbatch stars in the true-story THE COURIER, an entertaining Cold War-era spy tale told in a pleasingly classic style. Grounded by sterling performances by Cumberbatch and Merab Ninidze, from TV’s “McMafia,” this is a true story about an ordinary British citizen Greville Wynne (Cumberbatch) recruited by MI6 and the CIA to contact a high-level Soviet military intelligence colonel Oleg Penkovsky (Ninidze), and who ends up at a courier carrying intelligence back to London as the Cold War heats up, intelligence that proves crucial in the Cuban Missile Crisis. The two men form a unexpected friendship, bonding as family men who both want to avoid nuclear war, something the Russian colonel fears Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev is moving towards.

In the long Cold War, the most heated moment was the Cuban Missile Crisis, when the world stood on the brink of nuclear war as President Kennedy and Soviet Premier Khrushchev faced off over Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba. In the run-up to this crisis, the high-ranking Russian in this spy tale provided crucial information that averted nuclear war.

THE COURIER is done in the style of a old-fashioned spy thriller, the kind they don’t much make any more – an entertaining, satisfying tale driven more by character and tense situations than explosions and chases, although there are a few of the later. But the biggest strength of the film lies in its two central performances, particularly the excellent Cumberbatch, and its true-story basis.

As readers may know, Khrushchev was the Soviet leader who banged on a table with his shoe and later promised “we will bury you” to capitalist Western nations. He might have meant economically but the heated tone was shockingly different from his predecessor Stalin. The Cold War was reaching its most heated period in the early 1960s, culminating in the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. THE COURIER gives enough information about that crisis and the Cold War period to make the story work without bogging down the thriller in a history lesson.

Cumberbatch’s and Ninidze’s excellent performances are the major strength of the film, and the tale is built around their friendship, but director Dominic Cooke (ON CHESIL BEACH) keeps the pace and focus just right, working from a script by Tom O’Connor, and supported by moody photography by Sean Bobbitt and a perfect score by Abel Korzeniowski.

There is a lot of fun in the first two-thirds of the film, before the film takes a darker turn towards its end, which does not work as well but is a necessary part of the whole story. At the start, the tone is almost breezy, as British salesman Greville Wynne (Cumberbatch) is contacted by MI6’s Dickie Franks (Angus Wright) and CIA’s Emily Donovan (Rachel Brosnahan), about a one-time mission to Moscow to contact a high ranking official. Wynne is skeptical and dismissive, even joking a bit about having lunch with spies, and protests that he is unqualified because he is just a salesman. But Franks assures him that is exactly why he can do the job, and then reassures him he will be “perfectly safe.” If there was any risk, the MI6 agent tells him, “you are the last person we would send,” bluntly telling Wynne he drinks too much and is out of shape, which leaves the salesman winching.

Eventually, Wynne agrees to do the job but, of course, it turns out not to be a one-off. After he meets the Russian intelligence colonel Oleg Penkovsky (Ninidze), Penkovsky takes an instant liking to him and insists Wynne continue as the courier.

Most of the characters in this true story are based on real people, although Rachel Brosnahan’s CIA operative is a composite. But there were indeed women in MI6 and the CIA at the time, and making the character a woman allows the filmmakers to explore a little bit the challenges of women working in that male-dominated field in that male-dominated era.

It is no surprise Penkovsky likes Wynne, as Cumberbatch’s Wynne is indeed a likable fellow, whether joking with his young wife Sheila (Jessie Buckley) and their young son, or in early scenes with the MI6 and CIA operatives, where he can’t help making spy jokes. He is nervous at first about going to Moscow, but quickly falls into his familiar salesman persona, telling the Soviets he is trying to open up a new business partnership with their factories to sell them the kind of scientific and manufacturing equipment the company he works for makes.

Wynne clearly is having a bit of fun playing his dual role, and Cumberbatch seems to be too, and is at his most charming and entertaining in these scenes. There is a lot of wining and dining of Soviet officials in his cover of selling them factory equipment. Early on, Penkovsky tells Wynne that the key to his success with the Russians will depend on his ability to hold his liquor, to which Wynne replies, with a sly smile, that it is his greatest skill.

Wynne and Penkovsky bond as fellow family men and over their shared concerns about nuclear war, an ever-present worry in that era. Indeed, Penkovsky had reached out to the Brits over his concerns about war, and the intentions of the Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, who seemed to be moving in that direction.

Although the story starts in 1960, this is the Sixties before they began to swing. The period feels more late ’50s and director Dominic Cooke captures that perfectly, with excellent period locations, sets and costumes. As befits these characters, the film goes with muted tones and conservative outfits, which better suit the conservative middle-class Wynne and the buttoned-down espionage pros. The choice works best for a story that is much more John LeCarre than Ian Fleming and his creation James Bond.

Exteriors where shot in London and in Prague, which stands in for Moscow. The action takes place in gray streets and alley, and in often half-lit and shadowed rooms. De-saturated colors and stone buildings emphasize the similarities between London and Moscow rather than the differences. However, there is a flash of period color and show of cultural differences when Wynne and Penkovsky trade cultural experiences in each other’s home cities. They bond over theater when Penkovsky takes Wynne to the ballet in Moscow, and the salesman is overwhelmed by the beauty of the experience. When the Russian visits London, Wynne takes him to their theater district, which instead is filled with modern hit musicals, and they end up in a bright, glittering nightclub.

The film’s breezy fun tone takes a darker turn when the Cuban Missile Crisis heats up and the world stands on the brink of nuclear war, averted in part by information from Penkovsky. As the Soviets search for the leak, Wynne insists on returning to Moscow in an effort to get his friend out. Things don’t go well but what follows is moving, if sometimes hard to watch, and an essential part of the story, demonstrating the inner strength of the real Wynne and Penkovsky, their friendship and common commitment to peace.

THE COURIER is not a perfect film but it certainly a worthy one, grounded by excellent performances and an inspiring story of friendship.

RATING: 3 1/2 out of 4 stars

TENET – Review

JOHN DAVID WASHINGTON stars in Warner Bros. Pictures’ action epic “TENET,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Melinda Sue Gordon. Copyright: ©2019 Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Hopes for jump-starting the blockbuster movie season delayed by a summer shut-down largely rest on TENET, Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi spy thriller. The description of the film certainly sounds like it would do the trick – a promised a mix of INCEPTION’s intellectually intriguing concept and THE DARK KNIGHT’s technically dazzling action thrills. While we do get the technical dazzle and an intriguing concept, TENET is more a mixed bag overall, and far from one of Nolan’s best.

Christopher Nolan is an amazing filmmaker, an auteur whose best works include MEMENTO, INCEPTION and THE DARK KNIGHT. But not every Nolan has worked, and there are several that did not quite reach their potential. TENET is among this latter group, unfortunately.

Action fans, however, will be thoroughly entertained, even though those who relish the mind-twisting puzzles the director often serves up will feel more frustration. The action starts immediately, with John John David Washington’s unnamed special-ops agent coming in to thwart attempted assassination of a leader, maybe a president, during a classical music concert at a Russian opera house. The sequence wraps up by introducing us to a ticking-time bomb scenario that involves a kind of time travel called inversion, in which events run backwards among other things. The mission also introduces the Protagonist to a code phrase using the word “tenet,” and a host of characters who may or may not be allies or enemies, including a fixer named Neil (Robert Pattinson), as well as a Russian arms dealer Andrei Sator (Kenneth Branagh) and his beautiful estranged wife Kat (Elizabeth Debicki), and a wealthy contact played by Michael Caine.

There is plenty of James Bond references in this spy thriller, complete with expensive suits, yachts, speed boats, beautiful women, billionaire lifestyle, as well as the witty quips. TENET mixes this throw-back fun with the breathlessly-fast action thriller sci-fi sequences that are cutting-edge contemporary.

The film is technically excellent, with jaw-dropping action and clever plot twists. Action fans should be more that delighted with all that, which is brilliantly executed. The scenes where characters are “inverted” are particularly outstanding The film delivers enough information about what is happening – eventually – to understand what is going on, but audiences could also just lean back and go along for the movie magic ride. For the audiences who want to figure out the puzzle, the situation is less satisfying.

One of the most frustrating things about this film is there in the first scenes, where muddy sound that muffles dialog, which is delivered at a rapid-fire pace that matches the explosion of action that starts the film. Like INCEPTION, the technology that allows the characters to “invert” time is a black box but those who like the puzzle solving would like to hear more about the premise Nolan is offering. Sadly, between the ultra-fast delivery and mixed accents, plus a background sound of explosions, one can hardly make out what is being said. For many action films, what is said hardly matters but one expects it to matter in a Nolan film.

Besides the sound issue, another challenge is the casting. The central pair in this action-driven spy tale is John David Washington and Robert Pattinson While both actors have turned in nice performances in past roles, not much chemistry every develops between them, and they go from action sequence to sequence with just a few traded quips. John David Washington’s damped-down acting style was fine in BLACKKKLANSMAN but for TENET’s unnamed Protagonist something more emotionally involving is needed. A better choice would have been an actor who could give more subtext, more nuance, would have drawn us into the character more, rather than Washington’s square-jawed noble hero. John David Washington is the son of Denzel Washington, but the father would have been a better fit for the role from an acting perspective, The younger Washington is good looking and has the physique for the hero role but his acting style seems flat here. Pattinson has done some good work in many films but here he is a one-note character, a handsome, smiling cipher who provides whatever backup or miracle fix is needed by Washington’s hero character.

The acting sparks are provided by TENET’s outstanding supporting cast, who offer the most interesting characters and performances. Michael Caine’s brief appearance is memorable, and a nice nod to the Batman films. The best good-and-evil struggle is between Kenneth Branagh’s arms dealer and his estranged wife played by the gifted, under-appreciated Elizabeth Debicki, an actress who is beautiful enough to be a “Bond girl” surrogate and talented enough to steal most scenes. Scenes between Branagh and Debicki just crackle with tension and emotion, a battle of acting talents that are just thrilling to watch.

TENET is a big action film, and therefore is best seen on a big screen, the kind of movie made for that viewing experience. As action entertainment, TENET is good enticement to draw film-goers out to theaters and beats most in that genre. But for serious Christopher Nolan fans who relish the director’s intelligence and intriguing style of films, and are hoping for a repeat of INCEPTION’s magic, TENET doesn’t quite hit the mark. TENET opens Thursday, September 3, in multiple theaters.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

THE CATCHER WAS A SPY – Review

Sienna Miller as Estella Huni, and Paul Rudd as Moe Berg, in Ben Lewin’s THE CATCHER WAS A SPY. Courtesy of IFC Films. An IFC Films Release.

THE CATCHER WAS A SPY is a strange slice of history, about a real-life Jewish Major League baseball catcher with a degree from Princeton and a knack for languages who turned spy during World War II. As catcher Moe Berg, Paul Rudd heads an impressive cast in a historical film with polished good looks and a score by Howard Shore. The film assembled all the right elements for a prestige biopic but does not quite score a hit.

THE CATCHER WAS A SPY is available on-demand from IFC  starting Friday, June 22, and in theaters in New York and Los Angeles.

Part biopic and part WWII spy thriller, THE CATCHER WAS A SPY focuses on a particular part of Moe Berg’s life. Director Ben Lewin (THE SESSIONS) based his film on Nicholas Dawidoff’s biography of Morris “Moe” Berg, a remarkable individual better known as “the brainiest guy in baseball” than for his skill as a catcher. Berg was a Princeton graduate who also attended the Sorbonne and Columbia Law School, who spoke several languages and read several newspapers a day. He was a brilliant but secretive man who was a mystery to those around him. Unfortunately, director Lewin gives us the facts of his unique story but little insight into this curious character.

Paul Rudd brings leading man good looks and his irresistible appeal to his portrayal of Moe Berg, who the film introduces in the waning days of his long but undistinguished baseball career. Rudd plays Berg as a likable fellow but a bundle of contradictions and questions, with a hint of darkness underneath. Berg hardly embraces his Jewish identity but is quiet about it nonetheless, which is understandable in that anti-Semitic era. But Berg is secretive about his personal life as well. He was not married but has a girlfriend Estella (Sienna Miller) who he keeps hidden despite rumors about him being gay in this homophobic era. As his baseball career winds down and WWII ramps up, Berg is eager to use his language skills to help the war effort and actively campaigns to join the military intelligence division.

He makes a connection with Bill Donovan (Jeff Daniels), the head of the OSS, the intelligence service that will become the CIA. However, the active, energetic Berg is frustrated behind a desk. Eventually Donovan finds a use for the brainy ball player. Berg becomes part of plan to find out how far along the Nazis are in their quest to build an atomic bomb, and possibly to assassinate the German scientist leading their effort, Dr. Werner Heisenberg (Mark Strong).

Actually, this story focuses on two historical figures who left unanswered questions. The other one is Werner Heisenberg, the Nobel Prize winning German theoretical physicist, developer of quantum mechanics and the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. Despite his private disapproval of the Nazis, Heisenberg remained in his native country out of a sense of patriotism when they take over. When war comes, the Nazis put him in charge of their effort to build an atomic bomb but historians have debated for years whether Heisenberg was really trying to build a bomb or delaying the Nazis while pursing his own research.

This is truly a star-studded film and throughout we encounter name actors, sometimes in surprisingly small roles. Guy Pearce plays a Army officer assigned to get Berg and physicist Sam Goudsmit (Paul Giamatti) through enemy lines to rescue an Italian physicist (Italian legend Giancarlo Giannini) from the retreating Nazis, hoping for information on their atomic bomb research. Tom Wilkinson plays another physicist, Dr. Scherrer, a Swiss-based friend of Heisenberg, that becomes part of the mission. Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada (TWILIGHT SAMURAI, LOST) appears in a small part, as a Japanese official Berg meets on trip to Japan shortly before Pearl Harbor, for a demonstration baseball game played by a team that includes Babe Ruth (Jordan Long) and Lou Gehrig (James McVan) as well as Berg.

How could a film about such remarkable characters and events be dull? Yet director Lewin fails to find the spark in this story. We never get inside Berg’s head and he remains opaque. One can’t blame Rudd, who makes valiant efforts to draw the character out. It is hard to know what went wrong but Lewin fails to find a way into the heart of the story and takes a decidedly serious, just-the-facts approach to Berg’s life, hardly even allowing a sly, ironic smile despite all the absurdities in Berg’s mysterious, contradictory life.

One can’t help but feel like THE CATCHER WAS A SPY is a missed chance for a much better movie. It is a strike-out that failed to swing for the fences despite all the right elements.

RATING: 3 out of 5 stars

ATOMIC BLONDE – Review

(l-r) Charlize Theron and Sofia Boutella as Cold War era spies in East Berlin, in ATOMIC BLONDE. Photo by Jonathan Prime. (c) Focus Features LLC

Yes, no doubt about it: Charlize Theron as a cool, efficient spy in ATOMIC BLONDE makes James Bond look like a little old lady. This is the female action star we have been waiting for., even if the film is not perfect.

ATOMIC BLONDE is adapted from a graphic novel, “The Coldest City,” directed by David Leitch, who helmed JOHN WICK and is set to direct DEADPOOL 2. The film retains a kind of graphic novel noir visual style. Neon lights dominate, as does half-lighting and cigarette smoke. The visual style sets the mood well but the real fun of the film is in seeing Theron is the action sequences.

Charlize Theron and a wonderful handful of breath-taking, non-stop fight scenes are the major reason to see this noirish spy thriller set in 1989 East Berlin, as the Wall is about to fall. Two other good reasons to see this spy thriller are its stylish neon noir visual style and its pitch-perfect ’80s musical score. But not everything about ATOMIC BLONDE is as wonderful as Theron. The spy plot takes awhile to come into focus, and having finally set up a conflict between certain characters, it loses its logic by the film’s end. Still, it is fun to watch Theron in the many fight scenes, and the ’80s soundtrack adds just the right beat to both the action and the characters interactions.

Most enjoyable is Theron herself. We are used to hard-boiled male detectives but Theron’s British spy is very much in the same vein, even if the character is a spy rather than a detective. Still the mission she is sent on has detective-like elements. After another British spy, James Gasciogne (Sam Hargrave) is killed trying to smuggle out a secret list of spies in East Berlin on both sides, and including a double agent, Theron’s Lorraine Broughton is sent by MI-6 to retrieve this list. Broughton acknowledges she had worked with the agent who was killed but does not reveal that the two may have been lovers. Hence, she has a special reason to want to undercover, and even revenge, what happened. In East Berlin, she is supposed to work with the local station chief David Percival (James MacAvoy). She is warned he has gone a bit native, spending more time trading in black-market goods and hanging out at clubs than tending to business. As a precaution, the savvy, experienced Lorraine establishes up her own network of contacts.

The story mostly is told in flashback, as Broughton is debriefed, after the mission somehow went wrong. Broughton is brought into a dim MI-6 interview room to tell her version of events but the tensions are thick. When she asks, she is told her boss, Chief “C” (James Faulkner) , won’t attend (although the one-way glass wall suggests he is there, listening, and she is to be questioned by another MI-6 official, Eric Gray (Toby Jones). Also in the room, much to Broughton’s displeasure, is a representative of the CIA, Emmett Kurzfeld (John Goodman). Lorraine objects to the presence of an American, asserting that what she has to say should only be heard by MI-6. Her objections overruled, she launches into her tale, chain-smoking in a coolly, self-assured manner.

Lorraine arrives in East Berlin under a cover of retrieving and identifying the body of her colleague for the company he supposedly worked for. Almost immediately she has to deal with Russian agents and barely escapes. She also notices she is being tailed by a woman (Sophia Boutella), whom she assumes is working for her contact. She angrily confronts the station head, who seems to be hung over and marginally interested in his job, yet threatening nonetheless. Convinced she’ll have to go it alone, Lorraine launches into her mission with professional intensity, plunging into a morass of secrets.

The twisty plot also features Eddie Marsan as a Stasi agent codenamed Spyglass, Roland Moller as Russian agent Aleksander Bremovych and Johannes Johannesson as his henchman Yuri Bakhtin. Sofia Boutella’s character turns out to be a French agent named Delphine Lasalle. Bill Skarsgard plays Merkel, part of Lorraine’s team, while Til Schweiger has a juice small role as a shadowy character called the Watchmaker and legendary German actress Barbara Sukowa appears as the East Berlin coroner.

Lorraine is all languid cool blonde beauty until the fight breaks out or the car chase starts. Then she explodes into a relentless, high-energy fighting style. There are several excellent chases and fight sequences but one sure to be seared into every memory takes place on a staircase, as Lorraine tries to protect the Stasi agent (Marsan) she’s trying to smuggle out. That sequence and other recall the best of Matt Damon’s original BOURNE IDENTITY and put any James Bond to shame. Theron is not only an amazing female action hero, she is an amazing action hero, period.

Boutella’s character Delphine, an inexperienced gay spy with a certain sweetness, provides a romantic diversion for the bisexual Lorraine, and a sex scene steams things up. While Lorraine is a hardened professional, who wryly says to Delphine that “these relationships aren’t real, it is part of the game,” we detect fondness chooses to keep hidden from most.

ATOMIC BLONDE is best as a showcase for Charlize Theron as action star, and to prove that women can be tough enough for any job.

RATING: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars