THE UNION (2024) - Movie Review

Director: Julian Farino
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Halle Berry, J.K. Simmons, Mike Colter, Alice Lee, Jessica De Gouw, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Jackie Earle Haley
Genre: Action, Comedy, Thriller
Writer: Joe Barton, David Guggenheim
Runtime: 107 min
Rated: PG-13 for sequences of strong violence, suggestive material and some strong language
Buy This Movie: Netflix

This blog is supported by its audience. When you buy through links on my blog, I may earn an affiliate commission.

Synopsis:

A New Jersey construction worker goes from regular guy to aspiring spy when his long-lost high school sweetheart recruits him for an espionage mission.

Review:

It's time for yet another disappointing Netflix flick. "The Union" enlists Mark Wahlberg and Halle Berry in a depressingly dull spy action comedy that adds nothing new to the genre. I say comedy, but despite a few jokes here and there and a somewhat light tone, I just didn't feel the comedy.

Berry and Wahlberg keep the movie afloat with their star power, but that's hardly enough to keep you from tuning out as the ridiculous plot sleepwalks through all the required beats, which are neither entertaining nor interesting. There's also very little chemistry between the two leads, which we are supposed to believe were high school sweethearts. The central gimmick of taking regular joes and turning them into covert operatives could have been a lot more fun (think blue collar James Bond), but that would have required creativity, imagination and a sense of humor, of which the screenwriters apparently have none.

I have no idea how much this movie cost (I couldn't find any information online), but they've definitely spent a pretty penny on locations and stunts, and the action sequences are mostly well put together. Despite that, the movie has the generic look of a straight-to-video production and the stunt doubles are noticeable at times as Berry and Wahlberg put very little effort into the physical aspects of their roles. Mercifully, the movie is rather short, clocking in at a little over 90 minutes.

"The Union" is derivative and formulaic, forgettable and mind-numbingly boring. In short, it's a new entry in a long line of expensive low-effort movies that streaming platforms churn out. Let this one slip into oblivion.

SCORE: 4/10