There are not major spoilers in this review!
The Pairing of Mark Wahlberg and Halle Berry
Most everyone remembers the first crush in high school or the one that got away. For Mike McKenna (Mark Wahlberg) it was the one that got away in The Union. This comedy, action, and spy movie is about Roxanne Hall (Halle Berry) who happens to be a secret agent. She stays behind the scenes until something wrong occurs. She basically stops bad things from happening. In this case, she is tasked to recover a phone that will give her and the team she works with access to an auction that is selling secret information. If it gets into the wrong hands, even worse things will happen which usually means death. As Roxanne and Mike start to trust each other again and try to resolve their past including misconceptions of each other, a choice has to be made between them. Is their past truly in the past so they can save the world so to speak? Or have they not grown up enough to be able to handle the external and personal stresses in their current lives. The Union is written by Joe Barton and David Guggenheim and directed by Julian Farino. The cast besides Wahlberg and Berry include Jackie Earle Haley as Foreman, J.K. Simmons as Tom Brennan, Mike Colter as Nick Faraday, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Frank Pfeiffer, Jessica De Gouw as Juliet Quinn, Alice Lee as Athena Kim, Lorraine Bracco as Lorraine McKenna, Dana Delany as Nicole, Patch Darragh as Bobby Breslin, and James McMenamin as Johnny Healy. It has a rating of PG-13 and is one hour and 47 minutes.
Car Chases and Shootouts Because of a Briefcase
The Union is an action, thriller, and spy movie about Mike McKenna, a loyal blue-collar worker to his job and friends. He appears to have a love/hate relationship with his mother and most excellently portrayed by Lorraine Bracco. When his ex-girlfriend, Roxanne Hall, comes back into his life, she takes command, and he finds himself in London. He has a choice of either helping her or going back to New Jersey. Guess which one he chooses? Roxanne's boss, Tom Brennan, does his best to trust her judgment and Roxanne does her best to train Mike in the short amount of time they have. Since her first attempt to obtain the briefcase did not go as planned, she and the team are forced to resort to more desperate measures and engage in trust issues with each other. When the guilty parties are revealed, it came as no surprise to Roxanne and handled the discovery pretty well. She clearly compartmentalizes her job because not doing so would reduce her to a mental breakdown. In regard to Mike and Roxanne's relationship, it is more in the grey territory than leading one way or another. The ending was a little abrupt but necessary in a way to match the overall pacing of the movie. I could see a sequel in the future.
Watch the Trailer
Overall View of The Union
What worked in The Union was the ability of the writers and director to keep it as an action, thriller with bits and pieces of comedy and romance. Out of all the genres this movie was, there was not one that dominated more than the other. Serious scenes lasted seconds which was just enough to get the point across to the viewer. The action scenes were longer because of car chases and again, there was just enough witty dialogue to make it comedic. What made this movie watchable was able the ability of Mark Wahlberg and Halle Berry's chemistry. The relationship did not seem strained between them. They weren't actors forcing themselves to portray they were high school sweethearts at one point in their lives. The bottom line is that nothing about screamed their portrayal was forced. I've seen some awful chemistry in movies where it was beyond painful to watch. The story has been done before but most people are intrigued by espionage and solve the whodunnit mystery. The ending of this movie obviously answers this question and ends a little flat, but The Union stayed true to not being overly serious.
I give The Union FOUR FINGERS and ONE THUMB at 95%
