Black Bag ★★★★☆

One way that I gauge my interest in a movie is by how often I think about the time or how long the movie is. During this movie, I do think I checked the time once, but I was fairly well engaged the whole time. Part of that is due to the movie's relatively short run time, 90 minutes as opposed to the more common 2 hour movie. My opinion is that if you have a 2 hour movie, it had better be justified by some amazing character development or storytelling. I'm always thinking about what could have been cut in a movie to keep the plot moving. This movie was not like that. 90 minutes was the right amount of time for the story they were telling.

The movie is essentially a murder mystery set in a James Bond-esque setting, complete with Pierce Brosnan in an essentially cameo role as the director of whatever shady MI6 or CIA type workplace the movie takes place in. The main character George must work out which of his five co-workers sold a MacGuffin to the Russians. But, uh-oh, one of the suspects is his wife! This movie has all the regular classic mystery tropes, like gathering all the suspects into one room together to suss out the killer, red herrings, twists, and suspects doing bad things without actually being the real villain. It's an enjoyable romp all in all. I liked that the movie was suspenseful and engaging without needing a lot of action.

My biggest complaint is that I felt no emotional ties to any of the characters, especially the main character George, who really should have been more likeable. He shows very little emotion through the whole movie, with the exception of one scene where he looks a bit nervous for a few minutes. Even the other characters accuse him of being a machine. I actually don't hate stoic characters, but I think a good stoic character needs at least one scene where they break to show you their humanity, as well as a tragic backstory to justify their stoicism. I understand where the filmmakers were coming from, however. This was a movie about killers who have...creative ethics. While George is solving the mystery, the viewers are trying to understand the varying moral codes of the characters. 

In a lot of movies, we see action heroes and spies who seem to let their jobs envelope their entire lives and identities, and in this movie we see some of the consequences of letting your work life bleed into your personal life. I enjoyed thinking about that, though the lives of these characters were so ridiculously over the top that it's hard to relate to them, so some of this messaging misses the mark. 

Overall, I can recommend this movie if you like spy movies or classic murder mysteries, especially since it's short enough not to be a big event to go to. I think it could have been better if the main characters were more emotional and relatable. Still, 4 out of 5 stars, I probably will never see this movie again, but I am glad I did see it.