by Frank Calvillo
Out of all the spy series that came out of television in the ’60s, I always had a personal affinity for The Man From U.N.C.L.E., mainly because it was the one that started the trend of the many entries into the genre. The series wasn’t perfect, yet it had it had enough charm and popularity to be a hit. The show’s cancellation was inevitable though as it went through a total of five showrunners throughout its four year run, resulting in huge tonal shifts with every new season. It simply tried to be too many things.
Sadly, Guy Ritchie’s big-screen adaptation has suffered the same fate. Only without the charm.
As a fan of both the show and the unique panache Ritchie has always shown as a director, I had the highest of hopes going into The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and was eager to see if the man who had so brilliantly revamped Sherlock Holmes to great effect had been able to do the same here.
Instead, Ritchie’s The Man From U.NC.L.E. is a loud, messy and ridiculously stylish affair that quite simply doesn’t know how to keep its tongue against its cheek.
In The Man From U.N.C.L.E., CIA agent Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill) and KGB operative Ilya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer) have become fast enemies after the former thwarted the latter’s top secret mission. Forced to work together on a special assignment, the two feuding spies find themselves becoming reluctant allies as they must stop the exchange of nuclear weapons by a highly dangerous criminal organization.
So much of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. is beyond overblown that it virtually borders on parody. There’s the scene where Solo is recounting Kuryakin’s painful past in front of him, leading to a rageful look in the latter’s eye accompanied by a strong guitar riff, which makes for a prime moment that could easily have come out of a Leslie Nielsen movie. Even the action sequences are so mishandled in terms of tone that they leave the audience confused as to how to react. Take for example the scene in which Kuryakin is trying to escape a secured facility by boat while dodging bullets. The results leave him nearly dead as Solo looks on, drinking wine and eating a sandwich, while classical music plays in the background.
Some scenes meant for pure comedy end up falling flat and do nothing but bring the already limited story to a standstill. The worst case of this sees our two spies in a women’s dress shop arguing over which outfits and accessories are the latest in mod fashion. Are audiences really going to enjoy paying to watch two spies arguing over fashion? The scene is so ludicrous, you can almost see it being conceived for a Zucker/Abrams production.
The style and look of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. is likewise over the top and features such an assortment of bright colored dresses and slicked back hair to the point that it becomes overly distracting. The film has an interesting palate, but with as many cars, suits, and jewelry from the decade on display, the movie’s sets feel like something out of an expensive museum, instead of an actual reality where The Man From U.N.C.L.E. is meant to be taking place.
I’m not sure if it was because they were such ardent fans of the show, but Cavill and Hammer put too much cartoonish emphasis on their characters, that any shred of believability they were hoping to have as spies (even by popcorn standards) disappears within the first 15 minutes. With their highly pronounced dialects, you kind of get the feeling the two partly accepted their roles as a chance to practice accent exercises.
Hugh Grant pops up in a highly enjoyable, yet all-too-brief supporting role as Alexander Waverly, the boss assigned to keep an eye on the two spies. Yet it’s the women in The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (Alicia Vikander as Elizabeth Debicki as heroine and villain, respectively) who both do stunning work thanks to some genuinely well-written female characters.
In the end it makes me incredibly sad that The Man From U.N.C.L.E. failed to work on virtually every level. Ritchie’s approach to film has so much ferocity that remains unmatched and the original series was a genuine trend setting classic with its blend of 60s humor and espionage, that I would have staked my life on this concept working brilliantly. Sadly, Ritchie and The Man From U.N.C.L.E. end up being a more diabolically mismatched pair than the film’s two main characters.
