Michael Fassbender’s character in Steven Soderbergh’s latest is what I imagine legendary British spy writer John le Carré’s most famous character, George Smiley—a mild-mannered, long-suffering spy with a persistently unfaithful wife—could be if he weren’t such a cuck. Fassbender’s George (the irony is not lost on me) Woodhouse, seemingly staid yet devastatingly handsome, is tasked with discovering who among his British intelligence colleagues—which includes his wife, Kathryn (Cate Blanchett)—is the agent who leaked a powerful, top-secret software. Fearful that it’s Kathryn, and committed still to protecting her at all costs, he applies his preternatural skill for uncovering deception to find out what’s going on. This is Soderbergh’s most recent collaboration with screenwriter David Koepp, who together have created nimble thrillers (2022’s Kimi, 2024’s Presence) that would have made Edgar G. Ulmer proud in their cinematic economy. (The people demand more 90-minute movies!) As a happily married couple—even despite the “black bag” secrecy demanded by their profession—Fassbender and Blanchett are equals in every sense of the word. (Perhaps this is the key to their onscreen characters’ marital bliss?) Tom Burke, Marisa Abela, Regé-Jean Page, and Naomie Harris play the four other colleague-suspects; Soderbergh handles ensemble casts well, forming a constellation rather than centering any single person as a lodestar. Pierce Brosnan appears as the group’s boss. In all, Woodhouse’s respect for and devotion to his wife is much sexier than any James Bond film. R, 93 min.
Wide release in theaters
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