“Black Bag” 🔪🔪🔪🔪
By David Hodges
Steven Soderbergh, acclaimed director of such movies as “Sex, Lies and Videotape,” “Out of Sight,” the “Oceans 11” movies, “Contagion” is back with the taut spy thriller “Black Bag.” Soderbergh has been making movies for over thirty years. He is known for a light, precise touch. He makes movies crafted like the best mixed drinks with unique but familiar ingredients, smooth to the taste and pleasing to drink.
It is exciting to see Soderbergh turn his attention to the spy thriller, one of the few genres he has yet to really experiment or explore. Taking a script by David Koepp, screenwriter of films ranging from “Jurassic Park” to the horror classic “Stir of Echoes,” Soderbergh assembles a fine cast that includes Michael Fassbender, the delectable Cate Blanchette, Rege-Jean Page and Pierce Brosnan.
Running at a lean hour and thirty minutes, what unfolds is a story about two married British spies whose work finally begins to interfere with their marriage. Fassbender plays George who is married to Kathryn. When a colleague alerts George that his wife is suspected of committing an act of treason, the movie gets right down to business. George has been married to Kathryn for many years. He is a spy and is a naturally emotionally composed man not prone to jealousy.
While not prone to jealousy George is not at all immune to worry and the dangerous talk of wrongdoing is only made worse when the same colleague ends up dead the next day.
This brings us to the crux of this hyper-focused movie. We are introduced to five colleagues of George and Kathryn, each holding unique flaws, motives and complicated ties with one another.
While showcasing a few locales and set pieces you might expect from a spy movie, the real action takes place in tense modern offices, restaurants and homes with low light. The settings are either all business or intimate which is fitting considering the stakes and the slowness and vulnerabilities of the characters.
“Black Bag” is a jazz infused puzzle of a movie with a lot of red meat for people who like smart writing and character development. As a mystery movie, it faithfully follows the form. As a spy movie, it is elevated by the writing, the cast and Soderbergh’s mastery of the craft.
What it lacks in gunfire or chase scenes from a Bond or Jason Bourne movie, “Black Bag” makes up for in sharp dialogue, storytelling and direction. The small moments generate the tension and the small moments make this a spectacular addition to the spy movie genre.