The Union review: action flick with an excellent cast

The Union is an action flick about a group of people who are not CIA, FBI, or any government agency. They are a group of nobodies who are doing the spy, action hero thing under the radar and as unknown characters.

Roxanne (Halle Berry) works for the Union. She goes back to her home town in New Jersey to convince her old high school sweetheart Mike (Mark Wahlberg) to come do one job with her. Look at them up at the top in their high school photos! Aren’t they cute?

Despite all the years that have passed since high school, there’s still some spark between the two of them. It creates some flirting and sexual tension, but nothing sexy happens in the film. I think they are saving that for a sequel.

Roxanne is already trained in combat, machine gunning with gusto, and climbing down the sides of buildings like a gecko. Mike gets a two week crash course in how to do all that. He’s a fast learner.

They’re off on a mission to get some valuable data out of the hands of the bad guys and into their hands. There are a lot of twists and turns in that process. Every twist requires a gun fight, a car chase, or hand to hand combat. It’s ACTION, I tell you.

Roxanne works with Tom (J.K. Simmons) and Nick (Mike Colter). Nick is an issue in both Roxanne’s work and life. Tom is the boss. He steps up in the last few seconds of the film and asks Mike if he’ll stay around for more jobs – which is why I think they are saving any potential romance between Mike and Roxanne for a sequel.

This isn’t a great movie. It’s just another violent action movie. But when good stuff gets cancelled and mediocre stuff gets additional seasons, you might expect this to get a second chance. It’s a Netflix film. Honestly, I’ll watch anything Halle Berry wants to do, including the tough characters.

Two of my favorite people, Dana Delany and Lorraine Bracco are in this. They are wasted in bit parts as teachers and mothers. That’s a crime. They should be up there beside J.K. Simmons running the Union!

If you watch this one, I’d love to hear your thoughts on it. The comments are open.