The Union, 2024.
Directed by Julian Farino.
Starring Mark Wahlberg, Halle Berry, J.K. Simmons, Jackie Earle Haley, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Jessica De Gouw, Alice Lee, Patch Darragh, Alex Brightman, Lorraine Bracco, Fahim Fazli, Lucy Cork, Jen Jacob, Scott Rees, Julianna Kurokawa, Adam Collins, Riley Neldam, Christian Young, and Steve Mullins.
SYNOPSIS:
Mike, a down-to earth construction worker, is thrust into the world of super spies and secret agents when his high school sweetheart, Roxanne, recruits him on a high-stakes US intelligence mission.
At this point, Netflix probably has an entire subgenre of boilerplate globetrotting action-spy movies about super secret agencies working within the FBI, or in other words, the ones who get things done. With director Julian Farino’s The Union (the filmmaker prominently works in television, which makes sense considering what the movie looks like visually here), that element is combined with another ongoing irritating trend, which is a character putting up a façade of a normal life when they are, in actuality, one of those agents. Here, that concept (coming from a screenplay by Joe Barton and David Guggenheim) is used as the basis for a reunion between two high school sweethearts, which has an ulterior motive.
Mark Wahlberg’s Mike McKenna is the typical blue-collar construction worker and also happens to be preparing for a long-time friend’s wedding (his absence throughout much of the pre-ceremony festivities due to the secret covert ops danger he is pulled into would presumably lead them into questioning what kind of friend he is for abruptly heading to London, but they seem oddly relaxed about it.) Apparently, some of his days begin by waking up next to his former seventh-grade English teacher after one-night stands (Mark Wahlberg is in his 50s, and the woman is likely a similar age in real life, so none of this makes sense either.)
Nevertheless, after a round of drinks with some friends, in walks his first love, Halle Berry’s Roxanne Hall, fondly remembering their younger good times before she suddenly left. She convinces him to hang out somewhere else and, with no one looking, injects him with a tranquilizer, using her team to drag him all the way to London. There, she and her boss, Tom Brennan (J.K. Simmons), explain that they are part of the titular Union, which comprises regular people taking on covert operative experience, and that they are in a pickle that has led to Roxanne recommending Mike to solve. Exploring a romance instead of that idea is the first major misstep (the average lives agents have led before joining is generally used for lame humor.) Much like similar fare, a device on the black market can spell doom for civilization, particularly everyone in America who has ever worked in law enforcement, small or higher up.
Despite some passable parkour sequences and occasionally solid stunt work through car chases and more, The Union is plain forgettable and makes almost no impression on the viewer. Somehow, reliably hilarious veterans like J.K. Simmons have been stripped of their comedic power. Meanwhile, Mark Wahlberg and Halle Berry fail to ignite any sparks. If anything, that dynamic only becomes more clichéd and irritating as the film goes on and introduces new wrinkles into their rekindled affection for one another against the backdrop of espionage heroics. Regarding the action chops, Halle Berry still has it, exhibiting a cool demeanor throughout and often unfazed when situations go haywire; she certainly comes away unscathed, especially whenever the central focus is on her.
Mostly straightforward, the film also practically abandons certain characters toward the third act, finding the most random yet predictable ways to bring them back into the fold for a happy ending that seems to be setting up a sequel. Everyone here simply feels wasted in a technically fine film that is also lifeless and completely devoid of a reason to care or invest. Even the London setting isn’t taken advantage of aside from a cheap driving on the wrong side of the road gag. Six hours removed from watching it, it’s difficult to remember much of anything about The Union, much less muster up even the tiniest sliver of interest in seeing this world expanded in future installments.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
