Sometimes a movie comes along which is way better than its trailer. And sometimes a movie comes along which has a final 10 minutes of complete perfection. “Black Bag” (Universal), showing now at the Montrose Playhouse, ticks both boxes. In fact it ticks a great many more.
“Black Bag” is a British spy thriller. I’m resisting using the words “caper” or “heist” because of the implication of comedy: “Black Bag” is too serious for that. But there is much of the trademark propulsion and execution that these genres suggest. “Black Bag” is suave, tense, and at times edge-of-the-seat exciting.
A friend of mine, finding out that I had seen the movie and was writing this review, abruptly cut me off (before I could make a single comment about it) with “please don’t tell me what happens!” I’m not going to write much about who’s who, and certainly not reveal any of the sharp-intake-of-breath twists. Let’s just say that I could probably watch it ten times.
A film that I have definitely watched way more than 10 times is another Steven Soderbergh movie, “Ocean’s Eleven,” from 2001. If you liked that, you will likely love this. There are many similarities between the two: the way the exposition is handled at the end, the somewhat better focus on the male characters than the female ones, the music, and the gorgeous clothes and sets. Take a look at the suits worn by Pierce Brosnan (Arthur) and Regé-Jean Page (James); and spy hq, which looks more like an investment bank than the offices of a government bureaucracy, all glass and tinting meeting-room windows and multiple computer flatscreens per desk. There is a hint of the television version of “Mission Impossible” (1966–1973): “your mission, should you choose to accept it,” that kind of thing. There are truth drugs and nerve toxins and polygraphs and a great deal of snooping by satellite. Some of the ideas admittedly fall flat (the fishing hobby is painfully obvious for instance). Still, the whole is a terrific movie, well worth seeing on the huge screens of the Playhouse.
Much of the development of the plot is situated at the posh West London house of the central characters Kathryn and George (played by Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender). The latter is the Hercule Poirot of the movie, who has a week to find the person who leaked something important to the Russians. Indeed, there is much of Agatha Christie’s signature style here. Could the person seemingly least likely to have committed the crime in fact be the culprit? (Great examples of her use of this technique would be, for instance, “Death on the Nile” or “A Murder is Announced.”) George is fastidious, precise, methodical; Catherine is powerful, enigmatic, sensuous. Both are exceptionally well played. The house itself is another really lovely set. Take the dining room, designed in such a way to allow the director’s camera to first take in the ensemble, and then to smoothly cut to a close-up reaction shot of one of their individual faces. Very nice indeed.
The appearance of Pierce Brosnan runs the risk of sinking the entire concept because of an unfortunate comparison with a very famous British spy franchise. Fortunately the writers keep his role very much cameo. This is a good decision, as he would have crowded out the six actors playing the six spies (more accurately, five spies and a psychiatrist). It becomes a considerably more focused film because it is not cluttered with bit parts. This allows us to learn enough about the six characters to see how any of them could have “done it.”
As well as Pierce Brosnan’s casting there is another problem with the movie. The six spies are in fact three (straight) couples who are not entirely faithful to each other. Evidently, as we are told, going out with a non-spy is a no-go because we can’t reveal what we have been up to at work. But surely lots of us do jobs with are either completely uninteresting to, or unable to be discussed with, a romantic partner. Additionally, the expression “black bag” itself relates to something that happened at work that we can’t discuss (we just say, “sorry darling, that’s black bag!”). If that is the case, why go out with a fellow-spy?
The film is rated 15, presumably because of one very short scene towards the end. There is little else to offend. Don’t pay any attention to the weak trailer. Just go along and see it, and, whatever you do, don’t let your mind wander as the movie accelerates towards its breathtaking conclusion. The ending is the best part.
Adam Poole
15 March 2025
If you are interested in viewing this screening, please book your tickets here
