Spenser Confidential (2020) Review

Spenser Confidential (2020) Review 

 This film is amongst many that are being released on Netflix over the next few months and I have now seen Spenser Confidential and this is my review of the film. The premise of the film sees an ex cop who has just been released from prison drawn back into the world of crime when a former friend is killed.

Main Character

Mark Wahlberg plays the lead Spenser in the film and he does an okay job in the film, he definitley has the presence of a film star and he manages to somewhat rise above a very generic and basic sript. However, there isn't really anything interesting about his character, he is very one dimensional and not very interesting as a lead performance to make you root for him.

Supporting cast

Winston Duke plays Wahlbergs closest ally in the film and he gives a decent performance, he is more likeable for sure and has a real presence about him on screen. But we just don't learn enough about his character in the film, his development is sacrificed in order to see more action scenes which I thought hurt the film. Alan Arkin plays Wahlberg's mentor and I just really like Alan Arkin as an actor, he has plenty of charisma on screen and he is just there as the older likeable character. But I must admit I wasn't a fan of the girlfriend role in the film, it just felt like a forced element of the film and one that doesn't have any substance or development in the film. Also all the villains are very basic and there is very little substance to them as well. 

Story

The story in the film is pretty boring, if you wrote a basic story of a buddy cop film it would probably be pretty similar to this one. There is no imagination involved in the story, you can predict where it is going from the first minute to the very last and it really believes it is a clever film with clever twists but it really isn't. For me when you can predict everything that is going to be happen in a film and the characters arcs aren't explored enough that equals a boring story. 

Script

The script has a few funny moments but not enough for it to be considered good, if it was going for a comedy then it isn't funny enough and the drama doesn't hit any emotional levels and is just there not really doing much or achieving anything of any kind.

Style

It cannot be denied the style of this film has some entertaining action scenes in it, mainly involving chase scenes and cars but this film is really choppy when it comes to hand to hand combat. It is edited so much that it is really hard to follow, the amount of quick cuts makes it really jarring and hard to buy into, especially when you are clearly suppossed to. 

Overall

Overall this is a poor film, it is one of the most basic and generic films I have seen in recent memory and a few decent performances isn't enough to make this film worth a watch for anybody.

Rating - 3/10