Josh Reviews Black Bag

Black Bag stars Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender as married spies Kathryn St. Jean & George Woodhouse.  Both Kathryn & George are senior officials in the United Kingdom’s National Cyber Security Center.  Kathryn heads up the operations side of things, while George works in counterintelligence, specializing in investigations and the use of the polygraph.  These two spies seem to have a marriage that works, despite their being able to share little with one another about what they’re each doing.  But their happy status quo is broken when George is brought evidence that Kathryn is among a list of six possible suspects who might have committed treason by stealing and selling a dangerous weapon code-named Severus.  Now George must investigate Kathryn and try to avoid having to choose between his wife and his country.

Black Bag is a magnificent film, a delightfully taut and twisty spy caper for adults.  I’m really bummed now that I missed seeing this on the big screen when it was released this past spring; I’m so glad I’ve seen it now!

Black Bag was directed by Steven Soderbergh (Out of Sight, Erin Brockovich, Ocean’s Eleven, The Informant!, No Sudden Move) and written by David Koepp (Jurassic Park, War of the Worlds, Carlito’s Way, Mission: Impossible, Snake Eyes, Jurassic World: Rebirth), and it’s a pleasure to see these two movie masters operating at the height of their powers.  The film is gorgeously directed, starting with an astounding steadycam shot that opens the movie.  In a long unbroken take, we watch Michael Fassbender’s George make his way through a London street and into the layers of a club to meet with someone who is going to provide him with a key piece of information.  It’s a very cool way to open this spy caper film.  This is a spy movie that doesn’t have any big fights or action scenes; it’s mostly a movie of people talking in rooms, but Mr. Soderbergh imbues each scene with tension that keeps the audience hooked in.  There’s a beautiful golden sheen to Kathryn & George’s flat, giving an elite, aspirational vibe to these spies who, despite being far more grounded than James Bond, are magically just as cool and sexy.  Meanwhile, the script by David Koepp is phenomenal, doing a beautiful job of developing every one of the film’s main characters into someone with depth and layers of nuance.  Only about 10 or 15 minutes into the movie we get a jaw-dropping extended dinner scene, which throws us into the entangled relationships of the film’s six main characters.  It’s the type of scene that might usually come at the end of a movie or, say, in the third season of a TV show.  But here we are, right at the start of the movie!!  I loved it.  I was so impressed by how fully-fleshed-out these characters were.  (I’d love to watch a TV series spin-off exploring these characters for years more to come, or a series of sequels.  Sadly, I don’t think we’re going to get either, which is a damn shame.)

The cast is tremendous, anchored by Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender in the lead roles.  Ms. Blanchett is mysterious and luminous and fierce as Kathryn.  We don’t for a second doubt Kathryn’s intelligence or her toughness.  In the early going of the movie, we’re left unsure of Kathryn’s true motivations, and Ms. Blanchett beautifully dances the line in which we could see her either as a hero or a villain.  And once we do know the truth (which I wouldn’t dare spoil here), far from letting the air out of the tires, Ms. Blanchett’s performance only grows more delicious.  Every inch her match is Michael Fassbender, as a sexier, hunkier version of George Smiley.  (It can’t be a coincidence that his character is named George, just like the hero of John Le Carre’s Smiley novels, including Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.)  Mr. Fassbender plays George with remarkable quiet and stillness.  But when he speaks, we know he means business.  Mr. Fassbender is able to convey so much just through the tiniest change of expression in George’s face.  This is a fantastic performance.

The rest of the ensemble of younger actors are all wonderful as well.  The one I was most familiar with was Naomie Harris (Skyfall, Moonlight) as Dr. Zoe Vaughan, the NCSC psychiatrist who must balance her personal and professional relationship with the others.  Ms. Harris has a charismatic sparkle, even when playing this fairly buttoned-up character.  Tom Burke (Furiosa) is a droll delight as Freddie, the rumpled spy who George recently passed over for a key promotion.  Marisa Abela brings an engagingly playful energy to her role as Clarissa Dubose, the youngest member of the gang.  (Ms. Abela has been in some major projects, such as headlining the Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black, but this is the first thing I’ve seen her in.  I think this is a tremendous performance, and I can’t wait to see what she does next.)  Finally there is Regé-Jean Page (Bridgerton, Roots, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves), who is sexy and smoldering as James Stokes, George’s colleague who is the only one in the group other than George who at first knows about the suspicions against Kathryn, and who is dating Zoe.  I was impressed by every one of these actors, and I loved all of these characters!

Also in this film: a perfectly-cast Pierce Brosnan as Arthur Stieglitz, the aging spymaster and head of the NCSC.  It’s clever to place this former James Bond actor as an elder statesman in this spy film, and Mr. Brosnan is fantastic, elevating every scene he’s in.

Black Bag was everything I’d hoped it would be.  They’ve crammed a lot of story into the film’s brisk 94-minute run-time.  The story is complicated, but all the pieces fit together well.  I enjoyed trying to stay ahead of all of the film’s twists and turns; I was very satisfied by how everything played out in the end.  Any fans of spy films or just dramas aimed at adults should 100% give this film a shot.  I highly recommend it.

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