By Mark Fields
Brainy Low-Key Spy Thriller Stars Blanchett and Fassbender
Black Bag, a taut, intellectual spy thriller, starts with a long tracking sequence following one of the main characters to a clandestine meet with a colleague. Vaguely reminiscent of the opening shot from Scorsese’s Goodfellas, the camera stubbornly refuses to show us the leading man’s face – except in partial profile – for what seems like minutes. With that, director Steven Sodderbergh signals not only his deft command of pace and framing. But, Soderbergh also demonstrates that this lead character, George Woodhouse (played by Michael Fassbender), is someone that we the audience will only learn about in glimpses and snatches, never full frame, never full disclosure. Even when we see the character clearly, we will never know what’s going on in his head. That is the intriguing entry point to Black Bag, and it works very well.
Woodhouse works for some sort of British espionage organization as the internal fixer, tasked with rooting out a possible mole. His wife Kathryn St. Jean (Cate Blanchett) works for the same agency and aspires to a role of leadership, and has been identified to Woodhouse as one of the possible mole suspects. In part, Woodhouse will have to test whether his greater loyalty is to his wife or to king and country.
To ferret out the traitor, Woodhouse convenes all of the suspects at a dinner party at his and Kathryn’s opulent London home, and sets a plan in motion. But, of course, things quickly go awry – with a number of schemes and counter-schemes in play – and the deceptions eventually threaten both British national security and the couple’s marriage.
Soderbergh (Traffic, Logan Lucky) and his screenwriter David Koepp (Jurassic Park, Mission: Impossible) have fashioned a story that is full of international conspiracy and espionage doublespeak but surprising light on actual spycraft. The film plays out almost like a posh parlor mystery (a la Agatha Christie) than a spy thriller, just with much, much higher stakes. As events briskly unfold, the audience’s enjoyment comes from keeping up (or at least trying to) with the various stratagems in play.
Black Bag features a stellar cast; not just Blanchett and Fassbender (both coolly sexy and yet uber-competent and ruthless), but also Regé-Jean Page, Naomie Harris, Tom Burke, Marisa Abela, and Pierce Brosnan. They all deliver Koepp’s witty, high-toned dialogue with confidence, brio, and momentum. The viewer never has a chance to miss the expected stunts and exotic locations of spy movies because of the tense forward movement of the story.
Black Bag is likely not for everyone’s taste. It’s a heady thriller, not a heart-pounding one, much more the vibe of John LeCarré’s George Smiley than Ian Fleming’s James Bond. But for the right audience in the proper frame of mind, the film nevertheless delivers thrills aplenty.
Official Trailer
