If I tell you, I don’t have to kill you
Who is going to be the next James Bond? It’s been four years since Daniel Craig’s Bond died in No Time to Die and the 007 wheel of who’s-the-next-Bond is still spinning with no end in sight. And even after the new Bond is cast, we have no idea what the future of the franchise looks like now that Amazon has full control of it. The good news is we have a new spy thriller called Black Bag to fill the spy thriller void left by Bond’s explosive demise. What? Too soon?
Unlike Bond films, Black Bag isn’t an action spy thriller. If you’re looking for one of those, you only have two more months to wait until Mission: Impossibe – The Final Reckoning releases. Black Bag is directed by Steven Soderbergh and his films tend to lean more toward the cerebral side than the action side. That doesn’t mean it’s completely devoid of action, just that you’re going to have to engage your brain for a lot more of the film’s run time than you are watching Bond or Ethan Hunt.
One thing Black Bag has in common with Bond films is that its spies all work for Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), a.k.a. MI6. We don’t know if any of them are double-Os, probably because if they told us they’d have to kill us.
Agent George Woodhouse (Michael Fassbender) is tasked with investigating five fellow agents to determine which of them is leaking classified information. Among the five is his wife Kathryn S. Jean (Cate Blanchett), making the investigation that much more awkward. The other four are agents Dubose (Marisa Abela), Smalls (Tom Burke), Vaughn (Naomie Harris), and Stokes (Rege-Jean Page). After receiving his assignment, Woodhouse invites the four agents to his house for dinner (obviously, his wife will be there as well) to surreptitiously begin his investigation.
The dinner scene is quite good but, as I said, you have to engage your brain. The scene is quite long, the British accents are thick, and a lot of information is put forth. The scene introduces the characters, providing us with a bunch of details about their various jobs within the agency as well as some personal details that could incriminate them as the leak. The information also serves to get the plot moving, as well as drop hints as to what’s to come. It’s a fantastically written scene, underscored by equally fantastic performances. To beat the dinner metaphor a bit, the scene is the appetizer whetting our palate for the main course.
As the film progresses, the intrigue piles on thick, secrets are revealed, and everyone’s a suspect. Even intelligence boss Arthur Steiglitz (Pierce Brosnan) is pulled into the case when the stakes of the leak are revealed. There are twists and turns, false leads and red herrings. There are moments when we think we’ve solved the puzzle, only for the movie to throw another wrinkle at us, dashing our solution. And the whole time we’re enjoying the sharp dialogue and killer performances that feature heavily in Soderbergh flicks.
When the movie reaches its climax, rather than feature a car chase or shootout or nuclear explosion or sky beam, the film gives us…wait for it…another dinner scene. Symmetry, baby! Soderbergh definitely paid attention in film class. Except, in this scene, the only thing served is the big reveal of who and why and a pistol for that who to make a grab for. It’s a scene every bit as good as the opening scene, the dialogue and performances as sharp as ever. It’s the kind of scene that has us on the edge of our seats in anticipation, but without the sensory overload better suited for the Imax. As we eagerly await Ethan Hunt’s finale and the announcement of who will be drinking their martini shaken not stirred, Black Bag is a wonderful film to fill the time.
Rating: Don’t ask for any money back and feel free to tell everyone about it because this film should not be kept secret.
Leave a Reply