While he is still getting films released in cinemas, as of late Mark Wahlberg films have been going the streaming route. For the most part, streaming has been the best place for these, with films like Infinite (2021), Me Time (2022) and The Family Plan (2023) being disposable fare and well beneath some of Wahlberg’s best.
His most recent feature, the spy thriller The Union similarly was made for streaming, coming courtesy of streaming giant Netflix. Going in I had hoped this would maybe rise above those others I had mentioned but unfortunately it quickly became apparent that The Union had a number of problems that were unable to rise it above anything more than a throwaway piece of fluff.
One of the film’s main issues comes in the shape of its plot, with Wahlberg playing Mike McKenna, a New Jersey construction worker who still lives with his mother. He spends his time drinking with his friends at his local bar and hooking up with the odd female, the last of which so happens to be his 7th grade English teacher (Dana Delaney).
His life is thrown into disarray with the reappearance of teenage sweetheart Roxanne Hall (Halle Berry). Mike and Roxanne begin to reminisce about old times. Everything is going great until Mike finds himself being drugged by Roxanne, with him waking up in London.
It turns out that Roxanne works for a secret intelligence organization called The Union, and they need Mike’s help with a dangerous mission to obtain a valuable briefcase that holds sensitive information on people who have served allied Western nations.
The reason for Mike’s recruitment is that he is a “nobody”, unknown to the intelligence community. Now Roxanne and her team have the matter of weeks to train Mike up so he can undertake this mission, with the possibility of him also rekindling his romance with Roxanne along the way.
The Union plays like the medium budgeted actioners Warner Brothers would churn out in the 90’s, starring an actor either on the cusp of stardom or rather one who’s stardom has started to wane. Unlike those, The Union certainly has star power, with the cast being filled with quality performers. Wahlberg and Berry alone is enough to garner attention but with the likes of J.K. Simmons, Mike Colter and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje cast in supporting roles it is clear that The Union isn’t a medium budgeted affair.
The film seems like another attempt to mime the Mission: Impossible franchise, with its mixture of action, globe trotting and quirky characters, but unlike that series, The Union is merely serviceable rather than great. One of the initial telling signs was the appointment of director Julian Farino. No offense to Farino, but considering his background is mostly in television, he isn’t exactly the first name that pops to mind to helm a big budget action movie.
Farino shoots the film in a mostly anonymous fashion. This isn’t a criticism of his talents as a director. In fact, possibly due to his background in television, Farino shoots the film in a clean, no bullshit manner. While he may not have a distinctive visual style, the upside of this is that The Union is clear of any obtrusive stylings that would be employed by some better known directors. Although the action is strictly PG-13, it is cleanly shot and easy to follow, unlike some larger scale blockbusters. On occasion there is the use of noticeable stunt doubles, but I will take this over obvious CGI.
In terms of action, it is considerably smaller scale than I was expecting, but it is all capably done. A shootout come chase scene around the streets of London is clearly the film’s standout, with this being the first action scene in the film to put Wahlberg’s character into the thick of it. One has to engage some suspension of belief during the action, as the idea of Wahlberg’s character becoming a near top tier agent in the matter of weeks is laughable, no matter how serious the film treats it.
Farino manages to keep the pace of the film ticking along, even when the film gets bogged down in typical tropes, with the overly tired mole infiltrating the organization. It is overly obvious who said mole will be just by looking at the cast alone. Additionally, there is too much time spent focusing on the romance between Wahlberg and Berry. This would be fine if the two of them shared anything in the way of chemistry, but no matter how good each of them are in their roles, this is one area of the film they can’t overcome.
Even if they can’t totally sell the romance, both Wahlberg and Berry do well in their roles. He may be an A-lister but Wahlberg can still play a believable every man. Well as believable as he needs to be in a film like The Union. As mentioned, his transition to become a secret agent happens relatively quick, but the script at least doesn’t make him infallible, with him making a good number of mistakes during his missions.
Wahlberg gets his own fair share of the action, with a mixture of gunplay and hand to hand fight scenes. He is clearly stunt doubled during the set pieces but director Farino along with assistance from his editor Pia Di Ciaula keep the action moving fast enough that it isn’t so much of an issue. The film could have done with one or two more action scenes to fill out its slightly overlong runtime. 107 minutes isn’t excessively long for an action movie, but The Union could have been trimmed by at least 15 minutes with no harm to the flow of the film.
Of the two leads, Berry would certainly be classed more as the action lead. No stranger to action roles, she is suitably convincing during the more dangerous aspects of her role, even if like Wahlberg the use of doubles is employed. She even convinces playing someone that is meant to be roughly 10 years younger than she is in real life.
What isn’t convincing during some of her and her co-stars’ scenes is the obvious use of green screen. One dialogue scene between her and Wahlberg on the streets of London looks awful, with it being clear that the actors’ performances were shot elsewhere. I would expect this in a Millenium production, but I thought something like The Union would be above this.
A charismatic Mike Colter is mostly wasted in an obvious role, with J.K. Simmons, Jackie Earle Haley and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje similarly star in limited roles that are beneath them. Simmons at least plays a more integral part to the plot but Haley and Akinnuoye-Agbaje seem to be forgotten about after the mid-way point.
The Union is a suitable time waster, but it doesn’t offer up anything new or done better elsewhere. It is generic to the xtreme, with the plot offering no surprises. A game cast gives everything to their roles which at least makes proceedings worthwhile, if not exactly memorable.
Next up for Wahlberg is the action thriller Flight Risk (2024), where it looks like he is better utilized, playing an against type villain. What makes Flight Risk interesting is that it is directed by Mel Gibson, his first film behind the camera since Hacksaw Ridge (2016). He also has Play Dirty (2024) for writer/director Shane Black. This has certainly piqued my interest as Wahlberg is taking on the role of Donald E. Westlake/Richard Stark’s Parker, co-incidentally played by Gibson years before in Payback (1997), where the character’s name had been changed to Porter for contractual reasons.Â
Regarding Halle Berry, at least The Union was afforded a release, unlike sci-fi thriller The Mothership which ended up being shelved by Netflix. Next up for Berry is the interesting sounding Never Let Go (2024), a horror thriller from Haute Tension (2003) director Alexandre Aja. I hope for both Berry and Wahlberg’s sake that their upcoming movies manage to make more of an impression than The Union.
Plot: 2/5
Acting: 3/5
Action: 3/5
Overall: 2.6/5
