THE UNION
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Halle Berry, J.K. Simmons, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Alice Lee, Jackie Earle Haley, Jessica De Gouw, Stephen Campbell Moore, Mike Colter, Dana Delany, and Lorraine Bracco
Director: Julian Farino
QUENTIN
It seems like 2024 has had a never-ending string of mediocre buddy comedies, and The Union is just another entry on the pile. Honestly, my reviews of this, The Instigators, Axel F, Jackpot!, and several more are all pretty similar. The acting is fine, the plot is predictable, there are a few chuckles to be had, and the action, though generic, is entertaining enough. That said, of all the recent offerings in this genre, I guess this is one of the better ones, but that’s a low bar and it’s really splitting hairs. It’s a decent yet disposable distraction on Netflix – no more, no less.
PRESTON
Perfectly unlikely, but predictable events unfold in a cliché spy action-comedy that is the Netflix-iest movie to ever movie on Netflix. Halle Berry (Roxanne), Mark Wahlberg (Mike McKenna), J.K. Simmons (Tom Brennan), and Mike Colter (Nick Faraday) form a pleasurable enough cast that suits the format just fine, and they are able to inject enough charm to make the film an ok watch. No need to overcomplicate things here, this is after-work fodder for the masses that you may enjoy if you want to just shut down the old thinker for a couple of hours.
