Pages

7.3.20

Quick Take: Spenser Confidential (2020)


Directed by Peter Berg. Starring Mark Wahlberg, Alan Arkin, Bokeem Woodbine, Iliza Shlesinger, Winston Duke and  Marc Maron. Release: Netflix.

Wildly uneven movie that wobbles between slapstick and ice-cold crime-drama, featuring both comedic vignettes and brutal machete murders. The unimaginative story fails to impress, as does the movie's intelligence which seems to lie somewhere between third-tier HBO show and dumb-as-a-doornail Michael Bay movie - closer to the latter, obviously.

Charisma-free Mark Wahlberg desperately wants to be as cool as Tom Cruise was in the (first) Jack Reacher movie, a feat unobtainable for the former underwear model, even on his best days, and this is NOT one of his best days. The inclusion of Alan Arkin in the cast may momentarily convince the casual viewer that this film has class, but the seasoned actor does absolutely nothing with the underwritten part, leaving Iliza Shlesinger to steal the whole show as the brash ex-girlfriend.

On the most basic level Peter Berg has managed to conjure up a serviceable Netflix filler film, but make no mistake about it, this doesn't need to exist on any level, no one needs to see it, and everyone involved could do better.

No comments:

Post a Comment