BLACK BAG is the latest-latest from prolific retiree Steven Soderbergh. I’m mad at myself that I didn’t see his ghost movie PRESENCE in theaters last month, so I wasn’t gonna miss this. It’s one of his clever, expertly-executed genre exercises, this time reinventing the spy movie. The novelty is that it works completely as an exciting espionage thriller, with betrayals, murder, interrogations, trickery, etc., but done on a small scale, in a mere 2 (two) countries, centering around two dinner party scenes. And that flows naturally out of the fact that the main characters are a happily married couple. (And that it’s not about either of them being kidnapped.)
There is an issue, though. When George Woodhouse (Michael Fassbender, JONAH HEX) is handed a list of five agents who may have stolen a top secret software called Severus, the list is made up of two couples he knows and his wife Kathryn St. Jean (Cate Blanchettt, HANNA). He has one week to identify the traitor, and he begins his investigation by inviting the suspects all over for dinner and getting them talking. (The channa masala is drugged.)
So these are spies, but also a social group. They mostly seem to look up to George and be surprised and honored to be invited over to his place, but they see him as a bit of a weirdo, too. In the opening scene his boss Meacham (Gustaf Skarsgård – yes, there’s another fucking Skarsgård, older than Bill, younger than Alexander) flips him shit about his “flagrant monogamy.” It’s a funny way to make him stand out from cinema’s most famous spy characters, and it’s almost an obsession. He strategically exposes a few infidelities during the course of the movie, and we learn that he once did the same to his own father (Brian DePalma style). When another agent thinks he’s interested in her he seems annoyed, almost a little grossed out.
The most nervous dinner guest might be Freddie Smalls (Tom Burke, ONLY GOD FORGIVES), a cocky wiseass with addiction problems, and whose insecurity buttons get pushed via his dating the much younger satellite imagery analyst Clarissa Dubose (Marisa Abela, “Teen Talk Barbie” in BARBIE). Also in attendance are Colonel James Stokes (Regé-Jean Page, MORTAL ENGINES, THE GRAY MAN) and his girlfriend/their psychiatrist Dr. Zoe Vaughn (Naomie Harris, STREET KINGS). George gently gets them all wound up until one of them is physically injured, but the idea is to rattle the traitor in a way that will come out later in the week. Meanwhile he follows leads about Kathryn ranging from finding a ticket stub for a movie she claims not to have seen to discovering she’s taking a trip to Zurich. But secrecy is a normal part of their marriage, since they can’t tell each other what they’re up to at work, declaring any off-limits topics “black bag.”
There are suspicious deaths, a mysterious Russian operative, a Swiss bank account, secrets passed between the players/friends/colleagues, tensions and secrets exposed in therapy sessions with Zoe. George’s most affair-like behavior is to convince Clarissa to redirect a spy satellite to snoop on Kathryn. The intrigue comes out through these sorts of personal interactions, it never pretends it’s going to go big and popcorn-y even though a boss character is played by Pierce Brosnan, who we obviously associate with more explosive spy thrillers like THE NOVEMBER MAN and THE FOREIGNER. Its thrills are not built on action, but on information and deduction, deception and discovery, people talking, etc.
That’s not always my preference, but when it’s Soderbergh you know it’s not gonna forget to be a movie. As his own cinematographer and editor (under aliases) he’s never lazy or static, always hungry to find a new or better way to tell a story. I’m not against showing off, but he knocks me out without feeling like he’s doing that. In this movie it’s the small things. I love the opening, where we follow behind George’s head from the street to a club, through the front room, down the stairs where a DJ is playing loud techno, out into a back alley for a meeting. Going long on setting and mood before we settle in to meet this character and receive a mission.
Composer David Holmes pops his head up occasionally to get a groove going like he did for OUT OF SIGHT, the OCEAN’S movies and HAYWIRE. Otherwise I might think of this as a little closer to THE LIMEY than to those. At any rate, it’s a specific type of slick, witty, confident entertainment that only Soderbergh could or would do. I’m grateful to have seen it in a theater so I know at least one crowd of people saw it, unlike NO SUDDEN MOVE or the mini-series Full Circle, two of his straight-to-HBO-Max joints I find myself recommending to people who never heard of them.
Fassbender and Blanchett have each worked with Soderbergh once previously (on HAYWIRE and THE GOOD GERMAN, respectively). Unsurprisingly they work well as his leads and have a great chemistry as a couple. Fassbinder is allowed to look older than in anything I’ve seen him in before, though still obviously handsome. I think in THE KILLER he played a good looking guy trying to downplay it for his job, here he plays a more authentic nerd who has some natural coolness from just being himself. His glasses are probly a reference to Harry Palmer, and he’s obviously got some George Smiley in him. Like TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY I (a bit of a dummy) did not entirely follow everything, but I felt like I got most of it, and it’s a brisk 94 minutes so I never felt lost for extended periods. There are no extended periods.
The supporting cast is also strong, all people I’d like to see do more with Soderbergh, especially Page, who’s getting closer to capturing the movie star potential everybody saw in him when he exploded from Bridgerton. Burke is also a standout. I don’t mean this in a bad way, but I thought of him as kind of a smoother Ricky Gervais, so I had a real “holy shit” reaction when I looked up the cast afterwards and realized that was Praetorian Jack from FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA. The beard and the lack of stoicism threw me off.
This is Soderbergh’s third collaboration with screenwriter David Koepp (I COME IN PEACE, THE SHADOW) in a few years – they also did KIMI and PRESENCE. Based on the two I’ve seen this is an exciting team, the big budget blockbuster vet getting to tell stories that are small and personal compared to THE MUMMY or INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL, but bringing a little genre grounding for Soderbergh to put his spin on. They should do an adventure movie next.
I think there’s a danger of overhyping here. So let me underline that it’s a small and humble movie – exciting and funny and cool, but in a much more modest and laid back way than top shelf Soderbergh classics like most of the ones starring George Clooney. I don’t expect to end up returning to it as many times over the years as I do those, but then again, I’m already jonesing to rewatch it with a better understanding of what’s going on. At any rate, it’s a type of entertainment that’s rare in the current movie landscape, plus the unique quality of glorifying the hotness of a loving middle aged married couple. Papa’s got a brand new BLACK BAG, I believe Gene Shalit would say. Check it out.
March 19th, 2025 at 12:37 pm
Soderbergh is simultaneously one of my favorite directors, and also hit or miss with me. Everything I’ve heard about this one sounds like a hit. But even the misses are interesting. Based on an interview with Vulture, it sounds like he might get a third feature out before the end of the year. Wild.
I first noticed Tom Burke in C.B. Strike, a mystery series which unfortunately turned out to be based on novels by a famous transphobe. The internet also tells me he got his start in State of Play, one of my favorite British mini-series, that I devoured in one sitting. He’s got like a Stacy Keach meets Orson Welles energy (I think he played Welles in MANK).
Regé-Jean Page would be my pick for the next Bond if I got to choose. Nobody watched the TV series For the People except me. I was the people.