Review: The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

A sort-of prequel/origin story to the TV series, as American agent Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill) is forced to team up with Russian counterpart Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer) to stop a nuclear bomb being created and used for nefarious means by nefarious types. In the mix is German mechanic Gaby (Alicia Vikander), whose missing father is a top scientist. Jared Harris plays Solo’s boss, Hugh Grant turns up as Harris’ British equivalent, and Elizabeth Debicki plays icy socialite Victoria Vinciguerra.

 

I went into this 2015 spy film from Guy Ritchie (“Snatch”, “Revolver”, “Sherlock Holmes”) and co-writer Lionel Wigram (“Sherlock Holmes”, which he also produced) pretty blind, having not seen the TV series (despite being a Robert Vaughn fan), and only knowing the casting of both the show and this film adaptation. It’s actually pretty watchable, and Ritchie makes a decent stab at a cool 60s vibe right down to the use of split-screen and a jazzy opening number over the titles. In fact, the music score by Daniel Pemberton (“The Awakening”, “The Counsellor”) is cool and exciting, giving the film a bit of a pulse from time to time. He even throws in some clearly deliberate Morricone flourishes as well, which I appreciated. You might think the uber-macho Ritchie would be an odd fit for a suave 60s spy story, but the marriage actually comes off OK (I actually think Matthew Vaughn’s “Kingsman: The Secret Service” played more like a Ritchie film- albeit better than any film Ritchie has made).

 

The opening segment is exciting, not wasting any time and hooking you in immediately without spelling everything out for you. Later there’s an amusing bit involving a very, very reluctant rescue by Henry Cavill involving a speedboat, a truck, and a sandwich. The film looks pretty cool, though often dark. As shot by John Mathieson (“Robin Hood”, “Brighton Rock”, “47 Ronin”) it’s pretty sleek and slick to look at. Stars Henry Cavill (quite suave) and a rather hulking, quite physical Armie Hammer (with an OK Russian accent) are actually better than you might expect. At first they give off a Newman/Redford-lite vibe, but that’s not quite what’s going on here. Those guys almost always played friends, whereas these two have a kind of a sour chemistry that works rather well for two (very) reluctant allies. Cavill might actually make a decent 007 after all, on evidence here. They’re certainly more impressive than the miscast Alicia Vikander, whose character seems to requite someone more physical-looking than the dainty beauty Vikander comes equipped with. Maybe not quite Famke Janssen in “Goldeneye”, but somewhere in the vicinity of a younger Angelina Jolie would’ve been more appropriate (Weird that Vikander is the new Lara Croft. Others are seeing something in her that I’m not, obviously). Much better, though, is Aussie actress Elizabeth Debicki in a femme fatale role. Jared Harris and an amusingly droll Hugh Grant are rock-solid, if rather underused (Harris is only slightly more convincing as an American than Swedish-born Vikander is as a German, though).

 

It’s very, very light entertainment that you won’t remember much about afterwards, but this was a lot better than I was expecting. Honestly, overlength and a weak performance from Vikander are the only flaws here. Fans of the TV show might disagree, but I was rather amused by it. Bit of a shame the box-office returns weren’t very high, though I get the feeling Ritchie fans will be completely disinterested. It’s a light-hearted romp, rather than the more blokey, gangster stuff he’s most known for. In addition to being adapted from the TV series, the screenplay comes from a story by Jeff Kleeman (executive producer of the film, as well as the “Vacation” reboot/sequel), David C. Wilson (writer, oddly enough of the Jeff Speakman vehicle “The Perfect Weapon”), Ritchie and Wigram.

 

Rating: B-