Review of Spenser Confidential (2020) by Trgerry — 29 Mar 2020

Five years after a confrontation with Police Captain Boylan (Michael Gaston) sent him to prison, former Boston Police Officer Spenser (Mark Wahlburg) is released from prison. Staying in a boarding house run by his former mentor Henry (Alan Arkin) he plans to build a new life in Arizona as a Truck Driver until a gangland style murder of a former colleague forces him to re-confront the corrupt Boston underbelly that got him locked up all those years ago. Finding unlikely allies in his silent giant of a roommate Hawk (Winston Duke), his crazed ex-girlfriend Cissy (Iliza Shlesinger) and boat dwelling ex-reporter Wayne Cosgrove (Marc Maron), Spenser will have to solve one last case if he ever wants to earn his freedom.

Spencer Confidential is Netflix's big release for March 2020. An almost two hour R-rated Mark Wahlberg vehicle that succeeds on skill of its all star cast. Mark Wahlberg plays our protagonist Spenser, a good hearted yet immature man who can't help but get involved in situations if he sees injustice. This is definitely to his character's detriment making him a literal glutton for punishment. There's not a scene in this movie where Wahlberg isn't bloodied or bandaged. Wahlberg plays a character we've seen him play countless times (the solve your problems with your fists charmer) and his performance would be almost unremarkable if he didn't TOTALLY nail the comedic side of his character. Winston Duke plays our side kick Hawk with a restrained intensity. It's very interesting to learn more of his background as the story progresses. That being said I wish there was more character development for Hawk especially when you consider this movie is almost two hour long. The only problem for Duke is the script makes Hawk out to be a young tech savvy guy compared to Spenser, while thirty three year old Duke seems too old for this role, especially after his performance as Dad Gabe Wilson in 2019’s horror hit “Us”. For me Iliza Shlesinger is the stand out role in this movie. As a professional stand-up her comedic timing and line delivery is perfect. While her character is written with an almost outdated misogynist crazy girlfriend trope, she brings some of humanity to the role. She makes Cissy a real person with needs and wants and gives her the most depth out of anyone in the movie. There are several other stand out performances from Bokeem Woodbine, Alan Arkin and Dustin Tucker (who manages to do a LOT with such a small role) that any fan of crime comedies would enjoy. The only character that disappointed was Post Malone as the Inmate Squeeb. Post Malone's face was all over the marketing I saw for Spenser Confidential which had me excited. It shocked me to find out he only has roughly six minutes of screen time. This disappointed me at first but was actually a blessing in disguise. His character is all over the place, from reasonable inmate doing what he needs to do to get by to full psychopath. It's a very strange and very flat performance from a character that only exists as a tool to move the plot along.

Speaking of the plot, the story beats may be the most jarring part of the movie next to the editing. While the initial execution of the story is solid, the writing takes over and forces the story to progress unnaturally. I found it almost derailed the third act by having the weakest and out of nowhere set up for a final showdown I've seen in recent memory. Without the great action in the third act the movie could have been ruined by the story's forced conclusion. The writers could have added an extra ten minutes to the run time and gotten there naturally, especially with this being a Netflix release. The editing also doesn't do Spenser Confidential any favours. The action scenes have a lot of cuts which work for one or two sequences, but can't cover up some shotty staging. Characters disappear between cuts and it hurts the enjoyment of the fight scenes. While the dialogue is witty and engaging the editing again shows its ugly side with some very simple conversational scenes containing lots of cuts. It attempts to create tension but it breaks immersion with what would otherwise be a great scene.

In the end Spenser Confidential is a funny and enjoyable ride filled with some grade A talent. While the writing and editing may fall short the cast definitely saves the day. This movie is worth the watch if you need laugh to stave off the COVID-19 Blues. For those reasons I'm giving Spenser Confidential a B- and a Netflix Thumbs Up. If you liked this review please let me know. I would love to hear your thoughts on Spenser Confidential.