Black Bag review – glossy Steven Soderbergh spy thriller is less Slow Horses, more show pony
This knotty spy thriller from Steven Soderbergh attempts to distract us from a convoluted plot and baffling character motivations with fabulously chic interiors, impeccable tailoring and a general sense of dissolute luxury. And for a while it almost works: it's always a pleasure to watch Blanchett slink expensively around a set, and Fassbender wears his serious, Harry Palmer-style thick-framed glasses with suitable gravity. But times have changed, and to audiences acclimatised to the grubby, malodorous whiff of frustration and professional disappointment that seeps out of something like the TV adaptation of Mick Herron's Slow Horses, this all feels about as authentic as a set of dental veneers.
The main problem, however, is the writing. We could probably get past the implausibly handsome cast and glossy, monied look of the production design if David Koepp's screenplay delivered a satisfying payoff. David Holmes's score borrows from the jazzy, percussive urgency of his work for Soderbergh's Oceans films, but, like much of Black Bag, it feels slick but superficial.
In UK and Irish cinemas
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