FILMS - The Union

THE UNION, directed by Julian Farino, Netflix, 2024
WE WORKERS AGAINST GLOBAL ELITES

Mike is an average construction worker, a "people’s man" from New Jersey with no particular motivation in life who gets caught up in an international intelligence tangle. The reason for his move is his high school crush Roxanne, now a secret agency agent who needs "someone inconspicuous" for her latest assignment. When asked, he agrees without any serious hesitation, or rather, he will do anything to spice up his monotonous job-pub-house-mistress (he lives with his mom, and his former English teacher is his occasional lover!) life with a bit of action, and this is also his chance to please his former love.

This Netflix blend of action comedy with elements of a spy thriller has resulted in a entertaining film the purpose of which is to relax and rest, because it ends exactly as we initially thought it should, without burdening us or worrying us with any dramatic twists. Although the film tries to give the illusion of class consciousness and character dynamics, after watching it we can mostly remember the sonorous names of the actors on the beautiful Istrian landscapes over which the speeding cars fly, but also a part of the working-class American everyday life, which we rarely see in the films of "high-end" production. Along with these American parts, the songs of the native New Jerseyan, Bruce Springsteen, "The Promised Land", which is ironically used in the meta-sequence showing the everyday life of a builder from New Jersey, as well as "The Jersey Girl", written by Tom Waits and also performed by Springsteen, with which Mike tries to seduce Roxanne with nostalgia, while she recruits him to join the task, are perfectly blended. 

In a world where hackers steal the personal information of millions of Western agents, the dramatic conflict is treated more like a comical misunderstanding than a global threat. Instead of building tension or creating a tense atmosphere, the film offers light sarcasm and relaxed banter – but without any real humor that will make us laugh to tears, because it boils down to likeability and a certain kind of safe good nature, and even naivety. The characters are extremely engaged in their task, but the entirety of their interaction cannot help but give the impression that they know how everything will end well. The dramatic plot, or rather the mission around which everything revolves – the protection of sensitive data of Western agents, does not gain weight or have logical coherence, and is treated as a finished product that does not seem to need to be gradually built up. Stolen files, briefcases, digital transfers seem like the background of a standardized series of scenes: recruitment, suspicion, action scene, flirtation, betrayal, and then another chase.

Walhberg carries his role with ease. His Mike is an informal, likeable good-natured, emotionally limited American who accidentally ends up at the center of a global crisis. Given the insufficiently expressed nor developed character, his transformation from an ordinary man to an unconscious hero is mostly reduced to coincidences and shortcuts of commonplaces. Oscar-winning Berry is, as always, professional and present, but her character of the sharp-witted Roxanne remains defined by task and frustration, not by internal conflict. The two share a chemistry that they maintain well until the very end, but not because it is carefully narratively constructed, but rather because it is functional and created by the actors being long-time friends who know how to function together in front of the camera, which they skillfully and expertly use. The tagline of the film Old Flame, New Mission speaks volumes about this. In all of this, even the good old Oscar-winning J.K. Simmons, in the role of Roxanne's superior Brennan, the leader of the mission The Union, fails to bring any life to his thoughtful monologues. The title sentence is part of his motivational speeches to his agents on the mission.

The visuals of the film are solid and are actually an excellent series of beautiful Istrian locations that do not hold the number 1 spot in the number of filming days, in fact they are very rarely seen in the scenes. The car chase, which in the film, considering its total duration, lasts noticeably too long, is used by the director as a visual postcard, which is exciting in itself. The film is excellently shot with many excellent visual and special effects, but the sound somehow seems out of sync, somewhere on the border between the sound image of a slapstick comedy and a spy thriller. While the ease with which events unfold can be wonderfully relaxing, "The Union" somehow aspires to be an action-packed entertainer with emotional moments, a nostalgic love story, and a dose of political commentary – but none of these ideas are conceptually developed to the end.

The film chooses neither absurdity, nor irony, nor seriousness, nor humor that knocks you off your feet, but remains somewhere in the silent zone of stereotypical mediocrity, without any tangible risk. The ending with a dubious attempt at a cliffhanger is more frustrating than intriguing for the sequel, as Brennan announces, in Marrakech.