Disappointing reunion. After Blood and Tears , Deepwater , Hunt in Boston and 22 Miles, director Peter Berg and actor Mark Wahlberg join forces in front and behind the camera for the fifth time with Spenser Confidential . Available since Friday March 6 on Netflix, the project is an uproar and imperfect investigator film.
Spenser, played by the great Marky Mark, is a former Boston cop imprisoned after having a slight friction with his superior. The day he left prison, the death of two former teammates plunged him into an investigation mixing drug trafficking and corrupt cops. He will be helped in his quest for justice by his mentor (Alan Arkin), his roommate Hawk (Winston Duke) and his ex-girlfriend Cissy (Iliza Shlesinger).
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If Spenser Confidential focuses above all on action and humor, she does not do so without talent. The first scenes are disconcertingly effective. The editing, in tune with a boosted music, is more than pleasant. As if Guy Ritchie's paw was meeting Edgar Wright's Baby Driver . Spenser Confidential gives the spectator what they want: Mark Wahlberg at the top, shots, valves ... At least at the beginning.
Because the feature film suddenly decides to become only an ersatz action film without originality, sometimes chaining scenes devoid of interest. The staging becomes classic, the editing no longer ignites. Therefore, the enjoyable appetizer gives way to a bitter aftertaste. Let's not talk about the script, sewn of white thread. Without charisma, never representing a real threat, the villains of the film are identifiable too quickly and put in a state of awkwardly doing harm.
The discipline to get a second chance
As for the substance of the film, Spenser Confidential attempts to speak of redemption through self-control. Hawk and Spenser, two former defendants, focus their efforts on boxing. The discipline to get a second chance. But these moments are quickly defused as soon as the main plot comes to the fore. The idea was there, achieving much less.
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Even more astonishing, Peter Berg decides to place his outcome in a deserted environment. The director, yet a lover of the city of Boston, knows how to tell stories around it while filming it in its most beautiful aspects. Presented as a character in its own right, the city of Massachusetts is the great absent from this tasteless final, as a statement of failure.
However, Mark Wahlberg seems to be enjoying himself in this role of easy hook detective. The duo with Winston Duke, rising star from Black Panther and Us , works wonderfully. Alan Arkin's all too rare interventions hit the bull's eye, but it’s Iliza Shlesinger who bursts with screen humor. The actress and humorist plays Cissy, Spenser's ex-girlfriend. She is far from keeping her tongue in her pocket and does not mute her fiery temper. This well-cast distribution makes the film a great fun and effective recreation.
Trailer of Spenser Confidential :