'Official Secrets' is the espionage thinker you didn't know you needed
No Content for Old Men
with Matt Craig
In this week's newsletter: A review of two movies in theaters--one good and one bad--Official Secrets and The Goldfinch. Then a quick shoutout to a new season of my favorite streamer, plus the best of the best espionage streaming recommendations for your weekend. In this week's "Trailer Watch," we're looking at an awards darkhorse starring Mark Ruffalo. Enjoy!
Word Count: 737 words
Approximate Reading Time: 5 minutes
Official Secrets
Ordinary heroes try to change the world, or at least theirs
Official Secrets is a movie about ordinary people. I think that's what I loved most about it. This is a world of bureaucrats, journalists, attorneys, and average folks on the outer peripheries of power. Not presidents, not prime ministers or attorney generals. These are people who had nothing to gain by standing up for what they believed in, and everything to lose. They did not change the world. They just tried to make it a better place.
This is the story of Katharine Gun, a real-life whistleblower who in 2003 leaked a memo proving that the United States and United Kingdom were manipulating intelligence to "lie their way into a war" with Iraq. Sounds dramatic, doesn't it?
The movie tries to make it seem that way, dramatizing what was really a pretty banal action. Gun copies and pastes an email (woah!), then saves a copy onto an external hard drive (omg!), takes that hard drive over to a printer (I can't watch!), prints a copy (stop! wait!), and then (dun dun dun!) mails it to a friend. All the tense music, slow motion and closeup shots in the world can't make that look cool.
The thing is, Gun is not a spy. She didn't even intend to be a whistleblower. She was a low level translator for British intelligence who thought she could start an investigation that could prevent a war.
The next three-quarters of the movie are dedicated to the fallout from her leak. One would expected a heightened and simplified version of these events, but the movie is unafraid to dive into the intricacies of journalism--getting the leak published--then of Gun's journey through the British legal system. It's a bit of a thinker, but one that's never difficult to follow. Characters seem to deliver neat summaries at every turn, in a way that feels organic to the situation and not like an exposition dump. And the level of detail, of nuance, begins to deepen a viewer's connection to the subjects. They're ordinary people just trying the best they can!
My use of "subjects" instead of "characters" there is intentional. This movie feels close to a documentary. Characters are even introduced with proper lower thirds detailing their actual names and positions. I'm not naive enough to believe that everything happened exactly how it's depicted here, but as far as I can tell they get all the facts right, including some absolutely wild twists and turns in the case. Heavy doses of real life television footage serve as a pseudo-narrator for the events taking place around our characters.
Such dedication to accuracy left me thinking far more about the substance of the movie than its style. It's a "people talking in rooms" movie, backgrounded by a dreary yet ominous English countryside, not stylish by choice. Free from bells and whistles, viewers are invited to lean in and pay attention to what is really an actors' showcase. Keira Knightley's performance is superb as always. The banter between the newspaper staff is fantastic. Ralph Fiennes comes in halfway through to almost steal the show as the star lawyer.
None of that distracts from this movie's thesis. There's no question Official Secrets is politically motivated. There's no doubt about its stance on the Iraq war. The comparisons to Brexit, fake news, and our current political environment are obvious and intentional. Yet unlike Vice, which aimed a bazooka at Dick Cheney and the Bush administration, this movie is more surgical.
Rather than make grand political statements, this narrative stays laser focused on Gun's specific situation. One leaked document, one reason for doing it. It's a smart move, both because Gun's case is so strong and because it's such a perfect microcosm for the entire situation, like a tiny crack in a window allowing us to see out into the whole world. I have to be honest--warning to any politically conservative readers--the movie makes a pretty convincing anti-war argument.
Whether you agree or not, the movie is genuinely affecting. There's just something very admirable about people standing up for what they believe in, to the point that I teared up in two instances (I will not tell you which two instances and if you ever mention this I will deny it). If you're looking for diversionary entertainment, this movie is not for you. If you're looking for one of the most underrated movies of 2019, check out Official Secrets.
Streaming Suggestions!
Something New
The Goldfinch (Theaters): One movies podcast I listened to called this the "biggest flop in years," both for its box office disappointment (perhaps understandable) and its unexpected critical failure, abandoning the Oscar nominations which had been penciled in over the past few months. Walking out of the theater, I could see why the original book might have been a good read. It just does not work within the compressed limitations of a two-and-a-half hour screenplay, meandering through multiple timelines and locations without consideration for consequence, piling tragedy after tragedy on our protagonist only to pull the rip cord and eject before any measure of emotional payoff. Much like his character in season one of "Westworld," Jeffrey Wright is the only animated human being in the cast, which includes the likes of Nicole Kidman, Ansel Elgort, Luke Wilson and Sarah Paulson, not to mention a horrible and cringe-worthy performance from "Stranger Things" wunderkind Finn Wolfhard sporting a semi-Ukranian accent. Safe to say you can skip this one!
The Chef Show, collection two (Netflix): To call the six recently released episodes "season two" would be disingenuous, because it's clear how little actor/director Jon Favreau and chef Roy Choi care about this show as a commercial property. Favreau, who is famous and rich, is infatuated with the cooking skills of Choi, who is somewhat less famous and rich. They are friends. They make good food. That is the whole show. Yet it is not an exaggeration to say that this duo first got me hooked on cooking (first with their movie Chef and then with collection one of this show), and each 30-minute episode is my purest experience of joy watching anything out there in the streamerverse.
Something Old
Spy Game (2001): The best espionage movie of all time, for my money, is this classic two-hander starring Robert Redford and the man everyone thought would be the next Robert Redford, Brad Pitt (he kinda was!). This movie is exciting yet intelligent, full of those classic spy movie moments, and features one of the best twist endings ever. If you're a fan of the genre this should go to the top of your watch list.
Something to Stream
Tinker Tailer Solder Spy (Starz): When you think British espionage drama (or at least ones without that vodka martini guy), one title stands above the rest. It is SO British. Much like The Goldfinch, this literary adaptation moves at a snail's pace. And though a convoluted plot alone is not a death sentence (noir is after all my favorite genre), there is very little propelling a viewer who can't follow through to the end. Fortunately, unlike The Goldfinch, this movie is chalk full of excellent performances from basically the British leading man starting five: Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, Benedict Cumberbatch, Mark Strong. It's good, just don't watch in a padded recliner chair! zzz
Thoroughbreds (HBO): Unrelated to this week's theme, I watched this movie this week and can't stop thinking about it. Let's just say it does not play out how you think it's going to. Whew. It's billed as a black comedy about two discontent (read: spoiled) high school girls in an upperclass Connecticut neighborhood who conspire to kill the stepdad of one of them. Which is a good enough premise, especially when you fill in Olivia Cooke (from Me and Earl and the Dying Girl) and Anya Taylor-Joy (from Split) in the lead roles. But I was unprepared for how many artistic risks writer/director Cory Finley was willing to take, steering the movie into a slightly more abstract and far deeper place. Take the plunge!
Trailer Watch: Dark Waters
*Eminem voice* Will the real Mark Ruffalo please stand up? Finally free from the big green Hulk shackles of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Ruffalo is back in his bag pumping out awards-caliber work. It will be interesting to see if this movie, which didn't premiere at any of the splashy September festivals, could be a late contender for some trophies. It certainly checks all the boxes: historical drama, social importance, physical transformation (puffy cheeks I see!), and some big time talent attached: director Todd Haynes (Carol, Wonderstruck), screenwriter Matthew Michael Carnahan (The Kingdom, World War Z), Anne Hathaway, Tim Robbins, Bill Pullman. Sign me up!