The Union (2024) Review!!

Synopsis – Mike, a down-to-earth construction worker from Jersey, is quickly thrust into the world of super spies and secret agents when his high school ex-girlfriend Roxanne recruits him on a high-stakes US intelligence mission.

My Take – As a movie star, Mark Wahlberg is going through a very curious career phase for the past few years.

While some of his choices like Joe Bell (2020), Father Stu (2022) and Arthur The King (2023) sees him taking genuine efforts and pouring his heart into the material. But on the other hand films like Mile 22 (2018), Infinite (2021) and Me Time (2022) can make even his genuine fans question his current credibility.

Unfortunately, his latest collaboration with Netflix too is one of those in a long line of expensive yet generally forgettable action flicks the streaming giant seems comfortable in churning out again and again. Despite a strong cast, the simple story, underwhelming action, and lack of surprises just disappoint.

Directed by Julian Farino, who despite some indie feature credentials is mainly known for his work on the Wahlberg produced HBO series “Entourage“, and written by Joe Barton (The Ritual) and David Guggenheim (Safe House), the spy flick simply plays like a rehash of countless other films of its type.

Everything on screen, from the action to the characters arcs, are only as functional as they needs to be in order to technically form a coherent narrative, but it’s so by the numbers that one will struggle to find anything that feels remotely inspired.

Truth be told, underneath the aggressive mediocrity is an interesting premise that might actually have worked under different circumstances. With a better script and direction, this could have been something more than a hope that the star power of Wahlberg and Halle Berry will paper over a set-up that feels dubious even by silly caper standards.

Beginning with a botched extraction operation prologue, the story primarily follows Mike McKenna (MarkWahlberg), a New Jersey construction worker and an all-around everyday guy, simply going through the motions of his low-key life. That is until, one evening his old high school girlfriend, Roxanne Hall (Halle Berry) walks into his regular bar.

As the two haven’t seen each other for 25 years they immediately begin reminiscing about the old times. However, when the two revisit one of their old hangouts overlooking the city, Roxanne ends up jabbing Mike with a tranquilizer that knocks him out.

Only for him to wake up in London where Roxanne introduces him to Tom Brennan (J.K. Simmons), her boss, and reveals that she is a member of a clandestine spy organization known as The Union, that consists of only blue collar workers.

And since they lost a briefcase containing sensitive information on individuals who have served allied Western nations, they need a “nobody” like Mike’s help, to retrieve it. No lifetime commitment required, just one operation and then Mike can go home. Of course, Mike accepts.

What follows is a plethora of information, mission, combat and flirting, through increasingly eye-rolling plot turns and a car chase in Croatia that seems to last forever. Rather than feeling like a clever take on the genre, the narrative becomes preposterous as the film goes on. Indeed, it looked like the makers were hoping that we would relate to the “everyman” character, but the dull script doesn’t even have fun with the fact that he is a fish out of water character.

Choosing instead to stick to conventional paths, never veering anywhere close to originality either with its premise or its characters. To make matters worse, everything feels borrowed, leaving us with nothing to latch onto.

Sure, some other possible story angles pop up in the third act, but again they never amount to much. The fact that this forgettable flick filmed in the streets of England and Italy is a testament to Netflix‘s drive to overpay for star value instead of scripts, resulting in the constant production of empty-calorie entertainments fit for falling sleep to.

The only thing that works here is the pairing of Mark Wahlberg and Halle Berry. Interestingly, while the film marks their first onscreen pairing, they have actually been friends for 30 years.

A fact that’s highlighted in the film’s end credits with photos showing them not only in their respective teenage years, but also when they first met in the early days of their rising careers. The two play off each other by being mostly themselves .

Even J.K. Simmons does his own familiar thing. In supporting roles, Mike Colter, Jackie Earle Haley, Jessica DeGouw, Alice Lee, and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje are simply wasted. On the whole, ‘The Union‘ is a paint-by-numbers mediocre action flick that’s too afraid to take any risks or cause any ripples.