“Black Bag” Movie Review – Spotlight Report

Black Bag is a spy thriller directed by Steven Soderbergh. It’s a return to the sort of stories written by John LeCarre, and a darkly funny, sly one to boot.

George Woodhouse (Michael Fassbender) and his wife Kathryn (Cate Blanchett) are intelligence agents loyal only to each other. When George is tasked with rooting out a traitor in his organisation and discovers that it might be Kathryn, he has to pull out all of his most devious tricks to figure out who’s responsible.

If you’re expecting a James Bond film, Black Bag definitely isn’t one. There’s almost no action and it’s a very cerebral affair that expects you to pay close attention. Whether or not you’re willing to grant the characters that attention will depend on whether you can get through the opening, which feels a little too arch at first. Everyone starts their performance with an overly cool affectation, to the point that it feels like you really shouldn’t take things very seriously. The ice thaws as the plot reveals itself, and when things get going it becomes something of a whodunnit complete with the requisite dinner parties to establish who did what. With a cast including Pierce Brosnan, Regé-Jean Page, Naomie Harris, Tom Burke and Marisa Abela, there’s no shortage of talent and when things pick up the cast has all the intensity the screenplay requires of them.

Black Bag is a pretty minimal exercise that won’t please everybody. It’s very dialogue heavy, and most conversations are smirking, velvet-gloved battles of wits: It’s definitely an American’s idea of a British film. There’s a lot of painstaking setup, but it does all pay off. It ramps up its tension very slowly, but the final third of the film really is admirably exciting in its own subdued way. Whether that’s enough will depend on the viewer.