Hollywood likes to keep some of its actors/ actresses around longer than they probably should. Sometimes it’s the determination of said actor/actress if they want to keep working or not. Once in a while actors/actresses take a break and come back as well. A couple of actors who I’m surprised to see working semi-regularly are Mark Wahlberg and Halle Berry, who won an Oscar for her role in Monsters Ball. These two haven’t been doing stellar work for quite a while. It’s strange to see them in the new action/thriller The Union. I guess there is still a drive to act even though they are both pretty much on the downside of their careers.

Mike McKenna (Mark Wahlberg) is your average Joe. He lives with his overbearing mother in Paterson, New Jersey. He works high-rise construction and he hangs out after work with his buddies at the local watering hole, Wilson’s Bar. He is the best man at his buddy’s wedding and he’s supposed to plan the bachelor party. The only problem is his old high school flame, Roxanne, Roxy for short, comes back into his life and she wants to rekindle their old flame. In actuality, this was a trick and she’s trying to recruit him for a secret covert organization known as The Union.

Lately, there have been a lot of films and television shows about secret spy organizations. They have gotten old, to be honest. You gotta give credit to the writers who come up with these ideas. This one proposes that the Workers Union is actually a spy organization.  Where everyday blue-collar workers are recruited to join this so-called Union for the better good of society because the FBI, CIA, MI6, and so forth can’t get the job done. I find that hard to believe, but let’s go with it. 

There is mcguffin in play here where a suitcase with classified Intel is being sold on the black market and whoever has it can use it to release the information to the world. Any state can use the information released and start putting Union members and their families in danger. That’s where Berry, Wahlberg, and their team come in. They have to stop this from happening. It’s a little far-fetched, but what film or television series about secret covert spy organizations isn’t? Sometimes you just have to go with the concept the writers and filmmakers are trying to convey.

The supporting cast is space but JK Simmons and Mike Colter have key roles in the film. Simmons plays the head of The Union and Colter plays one of its members, who has a beef with them. Colter has made a name for himself in Luke Cage, and Evil in recent years. He changes his persona for this role. It was nice to see him do something different.  As for Simmons, he can literally do no wrong and he plays the leader of this group with reverence and a lot of knowledge.  It’s like he was born to play these types of characters. Lorraine Bracco also pops up as Wahlberg’s character’s mother and she is pretty funny in limited screen time.

I’m a big fan of car chases in movies. When I see a good one I get overjoyed with emotion. Recently the AppleTV + film, The Instigators had a fantastic car chase, but the one in The Union tops it. It involves three cars: a purple Porsche, an orange Ford, and a beat-up blue BMW.  The chase traverses winding roads alongside a cliff with a body of water in the distance. This was incredible. People were hanging out of the cars at one point and a car got shot off the side of the road and one person had to jump out. It’s the best scene in the movie bar none. I’m glad to see great car chases coming back in films.

The Union has a premise I’ve seen a lot lately.  Some person gets thrust into a crazy spy scenario. It’s not that these types of stories are bad, it’s just that I’ve seen them quite a bit. Wahlberg and Berry have okay not great but not bad chemistry. They are both actors I think I’ve seen enough of for a while, even though I haven’t seen the last of them. I feel they’ve overstayed their welcome, but if directors and producers keep casting them, who am I to say any different? The car chase scene is the only real reason to see this film. I know that’s not saying a lot but that’s how I feel.

2 ½ stars

Dan Skip Allen