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movie review - The Union

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-seven years and one million words

This is a movie about an aging loser who's still plying his hometown for women and holding down a job that feels beneath his abilities. Out of the blue, an old girlfriend from high school shows up after thirty years. She involves him in a spy agency of unclear purpose and allegiance, and he joins her in the would-be exhilarating life of spy-craft. Who can't relate to wanting a second chance.

The movie does one thing well, which is to have the agency beset by real danger. Our hero has no time for a miraculous transformation, he instead spends every minute one step behind developments. All the while, the chemistry between the two leads is good and the tone remains the right note of tongue-in-cheek self-awareness.

Recommended.