Trust, Betrayal, and a Whole Lot of Boredom in Black Bag

Early reviews are powerful. When I first heard about Black Bag, I thought the film had potential, but I wasn’t entirely convinced. If I’m being honest, I was actually a bit skeptical, so I decided I’d only watch the movie if the critics gave it a thumbs up. I anxiously awaited the day their reviews would start to drop, and when they finally did, I was floored. To say the reactions to Black Bag were positive would be an understatement. The film received nearly universal acclaim (as of this writing, it still has a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes with over 150 reviews!), so of course, I just had to check it out for myself. I bought a ticket for opening weekend as soon as I got the chance, and I couldn’t wait to see if the movie lived up to the hype.

Black Bag was directed by Steven Soderbergh, and it stars Cate Blanchett, Michael Fassbender, Marisa Abela, Tom Burke, Naomie Harris, Regé-Jean Page, and Pierce Brosnan. In the film, George and his wife Kathryn are both British intelligence agents, and despite living in a world of deceit and duplicity, they manage to maintain a stable and loving relationship.

But that all changes when George is tasked with finding out who stole a top-secret computer program called Severus. He’s given a list of potential leakers, and to his chagrin, his wife is one of the suspects. This unfortunate turn of events threatens to tear their marriage apart, and if Kathryn really did steal the program, it’ll force George to choose between the two great loves of his life–his country and his wife.

When you first read that plot description, it sounds like an awesome premise for a spy thriller, but unfortunately, the execution in Black Bag doesn’t hold up its end of the bargain. To be fair, there’s a lot to like in this movie. Most notably, the cinematography is top notch, and the story takes some pretty riveting twists and turns…or at least, they would be riveting if I cared about the characters.

See, for all this film gets right, it makes one fatal misstep: the characters are boring. Take George, for example. He’s brought to life by Michael Fassbender, and the guy goes almost the entire movie without cracking a smile. He comes across as all business all the time, even when he’s talking to his wife (and even when they’re in the bedroom!), and to his credit, Fassbender plays the part perfectly.

He doesn’t let the slightest bit of unwanted levity shine through his character’s unbreachable veneer of seriousness, so you totally believe that this genuinely is his personality. It’s an A-plus performance, but there’s just one problem: it doesn’t make for a compelling protagonist. Sure, that vibe would’ve been fine for a side character, but as the lead, George ends up feeling rather soulless. He’s almost entirely bereft of humanity, so no matter how gripping his story may be on paper, I simply couldn’t bring myself to care about it.

And when we turn to Fassbender’s costars, they’re not much better. A number of the characters in Black Bag are similarly mechanical, and the ones who break that mold aren’t given a ton to do. Either way, they all come across as flat and uninteresting, so after about a half hour, the experience started to feel more like homework than entertainment.

On a thematic level, Black Bag deals with ideas Catholics should appreciate, but once again, the weak characters sap the story of all its force. For instance, in typical spy thriller fashion, the stolen software has the power to wipe out thousands of innocent people, so the film could’ve served as a powerful witness to the value of human life. Similarly, since George and Kathryn are married, their relationship could’ve highlighted some important truths about the marriage bond.

But because Fassbender’s performance lacks humanity, you never feel the weight of those great themes. You get the impression that George cares about Severus because it’s his job, not because he truly values the lives it threatens, and despite what he says about his wife, his love for her seems almost passionless. Intellectually, all the pieces are there, but like its lead character, this movie just has no soul. It’s the cinematic equivalent of reading a list of bullet points, so if you ask me, I’d recommend giving Black Bag a pass.