The Man from U.N.C.L.E
Was headed to see Straight Outta Compton, but tonight's show was sold out. I almost said something different that referenced a Georgia Bulldog tradition, but changed my mind. Would not have been a good night for a middle-aged white man to see that movie. It will do fierce box office I'm sure. But the general behavior of the throng, the cacophony that accompanied the crowd and the destruction that was caused in the theater and around the concession stands (heard some of the workers lamenting the "wreck" that was left in the theater as they tried to clean up trash and other items that had been simply dropped to the ground as opposed to trash bins around the front) it makes me wonder if "that" audience is one theater owners truly covet.
So I chose Man from UNCLE instead. Good choice. Pretty obvious from the tone and visuals that the same guy who did the Sherlock Holmes reboot with Downey, Jr. also handled this film. It even had the requisite show something and then back up and in slower-mo, show what actually happened (the bare knuckle brawl from Holmes 2 being the perfect example). It was overused.
The biggest problem is that this movie had no Downey Jr. or Jude Law to carry it. It paired Superman and the Lone Ranger. Think about that. The two blandest, most do-goodey, boringest, self-righteous "heroes" in the entir comic/film pantheon. And that's what you had here.
Superman wasn't bad (you quickly forgot he was Superman) but his suave patter was oatmeal. It didn't have the crackle and pop -- or depth -- that Downey brought to Holmes.
The Lone Ranger wasn't bad (I didn't even remember he'd been the Ranger, that performance was so forgettable) but he was stiff, dry and struggled at times to maintain a really shitty accent.
Most of you won't remember the original series. I do vaguely. My dad watched what I guess were re-runs when I was a small child. What I remember was that the TV show was fun. The two actors (who now hate each other, and one is Ducky on NCIS) played well off each other, they had an easy on-screen chemistry and the show sparked and sizzled with snarky dialogue.
It was also on TV at the perfect time, airing from 1964 to 1968. The country lived in fear of the Russian menace, buried in the middle of the Cold War, imagining spies around every corner. Kennedy had just been assassinated, Oswald was widely assumed to have Russian leanings, Vietnam was beginning to ramp up. It was a different time and place.
This movie was set in the same era. Where Holmes was able to evoke a legitimate sense of time and place for the quaint and odd characters, this film never really found that same groove. It just seemed a little dated. Kids can imagine Victorian England I think. But it's hard for them to get their heads around the 60s. Maybe just me, but I think this film would truly have worked better if the director had chunked the era and reset the movie in a normal time.
The TV show was fun. This movie could have been, but just never quite got there.
The girl was hot. Seriously hot.
I will say that I MUCH prefer this treatment of TV shows I loved than the farcical (and shitty) reboots like Ben Stiller's fucking OFFENSIVE Starsky and Hutch, Drew Barrymore's limpid Charlie's Angels, the blah A-Team and the other quasi-spoofs that have been occasionally done.
Starsky and Hutch could have been a FANTASTIC movie with the right players. Imagine like Mark Ruffalo and Bradley Cooper or Ryan Reynolds or something with a good script...
Anyway, this movie isn't bad. I enjoyed it. I thought the ending (well, one of them as there were numerous endings) was a little contrived and anti-climactic, but it wasn't bad.
Can't say rush out and see it, but if you pull it up on Netflix one day, give it a shot.
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