'The Union' Review: Wahlberg and Berry Can't Save This Horrendous Action Comedy
While Mark Wahlberg and Halle Berry have some instance of palpable chemistry, the two can’t save The Union for being nothing more than another cog in the ever-growing Netflix algorithm.
It’s bizarre to review a movie like Julian Farino’s The Union since it isn’t necessarily designed for any attentive viewing. Like every Netflix ‘blockbuster,’ the streamer does not care if you’re genuinely paying attention to what’s on screen. As long as you’re in front of the television, that’s all that matters. The movie is truly a feat to behold because it almost feels as if the filmmakers knew no one would pay attention to it and create the most nonsensical story imaginable to discourage viewers from actively watching it.
It does act as a fodder for star Mark Wahlberg to promote his Municipal drip (as if he doesn’t do enough of that on social media when he asks his followers to ‘stay prayed up’) which also acts as his production company. As soon as the logo appeared on screen, it became obvious the film would be a lost cause, even if Wahlberg seemed to care about the shoddy material he was working with, which seemed like a first for him in a long time.
But it’s probably because he’s paired with Halle Berry, one of the most charismatic actors who has graced the silver screen, unfortunately donning the worst hairdo she’s worn since Patience Philips in Pitof’s Catwoman. But even with terrible hair, she still magnifies the (overly used green) screen as Roxanne Hall, an old flame of Wahlberg’s Mike McKenna whose life is unfortunately not going anywhere. He still lives with his mother (Lorraine Bracco, unfortunately wasted) and has an affair with his seventh-grade teacher, Nicole (Dana Delaney).
It’s when Roxanne suddenly shows up at a bar that Mike begins to feel something he hasn’t felt in a long time, but it’s all a ruse. She tranquilizes him and kidnaps her former lover to London, to which she reveals to him that she’s part of a secret agency called “The Union,” a cross between the CIA and FBI that is more effective than the two. Who truly knows what The Union’s about? they’re doing a mission that will save the world and need Mike’s unspecial skills to help them retrieve a MacGuffin.
What should Mike retrieve in particular? A list of Western government employees, which may fall in the wrong hands if The Union does not have it in its possession. It’s all flimsy and thinly developed, acting as a premise for Wahlberg and Berry to star in their own action/comedy vehicle after Wahlberg did the same with Michelle Monaghan in The Family Plan last year (another terrible movie).
The truth is that it shouldn’t be this overcomplicated. A movie like this should be simple: a lean and mean plot with effective action sequences. The plot is neither lean nor mean, and the action sequences are poorly conceived and shot. That doesn’t mean there aren’t any effective fight moves, such as a motorcycle crash that leads Mark inside a car trunk, but they’re so few and far between that the audience literally force themselves to look at the frame to find excitement when there isn’t.
Since it’s a PG-13 film, most of the action cuts away from the violence, leading to haphazardly edited scenes with flourishes of great action, but not enough to sustain a full feature-length movie. It also doesn’t help that most of the sets look and feel artificial, with plenty of shoddy green screen effects hampering any form of chemistry between the two leads (it truly feels as if Berry and Wahlberg were never on the same set).
Twists and turns ensue, but they never have any impact because the characters aren’t properly developed. It also doesn’t help that everything is seen a mile away, especially in how they obviously posit a character as a red herring, but it’s definitely not that person. Supporting performances from J.K. Simmons and Mike Colter attempt to bring life into the proceedings, but since none of the side protagonists they play aren’t interesting, it doesn’t take long for us to check out and long for a better movie.
That’s what I did while watching The Union. While Wahlberg and Berry seem to care about being on-screen together, none of what they have to work with justifies caring about being in this. The emotional investment is minimal, the plot is too convoluted, and the action scenes are fine at best. It’s yet another cog in the ever-growing Netflix algorithm, with films designed for ‘distracted viewing’ and never warrant your attention. The theatrical landscape seems rife for Netflix to make tons of money with it. Still, they would instead contend with the artificial-looking blockbusters that feel like Saturday Night Live parodies instead of actual, compelling cinema. Here’s hoping this trend will die down sooner rather than later.