Check it out, the 60s. And we know it’s the 60s, cuz they dressed up Alicia Vikander in all the mod crap left over from Austin Powers and Down with Love. What else went on in the 60s? Oh, yeah. The Cold War. And spying. A lot of spying.
First off, you have to forgive the title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E. was originally a T.V. show. Imdb seems to think it was good one, and so did the producers who wanted to follow up with horribly dated 60s shows that became runaway hits a generation or two later, like Wild, Wild West, Dark Shadows and Lost in Space. Here, I swear I’m not kidding, the significance of the title is not revealed until the movie is over; there is no point in speculating about 
the meaning of “U.N.C.L.E.” while you’re watching. Just enjoy the spying.
Napoleon Solo, yes “Napoleon Solo,” (Henry Cavill) is an American spy ordered to extract strategic hot girl Gaby Teller (Vikander) from bad, bad East Berlin. When he sets about doing this, Berlin is curiously empty. Did the city have curfew or something? And his lone impediment is Russian agent Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer). Solo gets to be captain cool, Gaby gets to be coy and Illya is played with all the warmth of a wintry Siberia, because what good are stereotypes if you don’t use them?
The most striking element in the film for me was not the intense action, the sixties get-ups, or the sexy femme fatales, but the fact that it couldn’t be more obvious that Henry Cavill isn’t American and Armie Hammer isn’t Russian. It takes, literally, two seconds to discern such. Is this how Americans sound doing British accents – do we all sound the Dick Van Dyke to you? I bet we do. Cavill pulls being American a little better because he comes closer to the kind of guy we want to be – smooth, always smoooooooooth. Armie mostly comes off as if he learned how to play a Cold War Russian agent by watching Sean Connery Bond films.
I can’t deny Guy Ritchie has style; many times in The Man from U.N.C.L.E., he hits a punchline
before the set-up has been introduced. This is a deliberate misdirection tactic, but works pretty well. We think Illya is in trouble when we see him with a look of panic and then a hunt, but, we realize a minute later, he was tipped and we had no reason to worry for him. This also works against U.N.C.L.E. – the film comes off as too stylized and antiseptic for us to believe any real harm will befall our leads. When Solo is trapped, for instance, by a man who has made a career of torturing people, we aren’t really afraid for him; he’s just too cool for the shock therapy to have long-lasting effect.
It’s worth note, btw, that once the tables are turned, a man is tortured to death for comic value. I draw the line there.
Was The Man from U.N.C.L.E. entertaining? Sure. For all its faults, the film is decidedly watchable, and conveniently set-up for a sequel to discuss what the title means, I think. Cavill and Hammer are both “one more chance” actors. Both of them were given break out films in 2013 and neither broke out. Cavill came off slightly better as a dull Man of Steel, while Hammer was a significant among the many reasons The Lone Ranger failed. Will this film make up where his other did not? Unlikely. But it didn’t hurt either man; I think we can agree on that.
The screen just ain’t big enough for the hunk-le
Perhaps better than standard summer junk-le
A second on the way?
Whaddaya say?
I’ll twist your arm until you say “U.N.C.L.E.”
Rated PG-13, 116 Minutes
D: Guy Ritchie
W: Guy Ritchie & Lionel Wigram
Genre: Credence Cold War Revival, woo!
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Women in love with Henry Cavill; I know you’re out there. You can’t hide forever.
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: People who don’t buy either accent
