The Union Parent Guide

Mike’s (Mark Wahlberg) a regular guy, working construction during the day, hanging out at the bar with his buddies after work, and having a no-strings affair with an older woman. But that humdrum life is turned upside down when Roxanne (Halle Berry) walks into the bar.

An old girlfriend from high school, Roxanne dropped off the radar when she went to college. What neither Mike nor anyone else in his New Jersey town know is that Roxanne has been working for the Union, an off-the-books intelligence agency that cleans up after the CIA or FBI. And right now, they’ve got a doozy of a mess.

A CIA agent has gone rogue, carrying a hard drive that contains data on everyone who has ever worked for the US government in law enforcement or intelligence. The Union’s attempt to bring him in was sabotaged and now there are six dead agents and a missing hard drive. Because the intel exposes every intelligence asset, someone with no history is needed to save the day. So, Roxanne turns to Mike…

Drugged, flown to London, and brought to the Union headquarters, Mike is briefly introduced to the group and urged to join the operation. Surprisingly forgiving, given the hypodermic to the neck and all, Mike signs on and finds himself on a dangerous, whirlwind ride through London and various scenic parts of Europe, chasing and being chased by an assortment of heavily armed bad guys.

We all know how this movie turns out. We might not know the details, but we know we can expect pulse-pounding action, fast-paced combat sequences, reckless driving, explosions, gunfire aplenty, plot twists, treachery, and menacing bad guys from Russia/Iran/China/North Korea (take your pick). This film delivers exactly what we expect, sometimes tripping over its own plot holes, but usually with workmanlike efficiency. It doesn’t stand out in the genre, but it is at least watchable.

What the film is not, is subtle. Characters are drawn with broad strokes, from Mike and his pals to a condescending CIA agent. The dialogue is even more heavy-handed. When the Union’s director, Tom Brennan (J.K.Simmons) explains the group, he says they seek out “street smarts; not book smarts…blue collar; not blue blood.” If you hadn’t already figured out that this was intel run by regular Joes, the screenwriters are going to beat you over the head with it.

If the film’s ponderousness doesn’t bug you, you will want to keep in mind its negative content. The Union comes in at PG-13 but it has plentiful, often lethal, violence. The movie also features over 80 profanities: the fact that only one of these is a sexual expletive explains how the film avoided a Restricted rating.

The script’s care in holding on to a PG-13 rating is indicative of its broader approach – get the job done, even if it isn’t elegant. This might not be the smartest, quickest, or funniest spy thriller you’ve ever watched, but it will at least keep you awake for the entire runtime. And that’s not nothing.