Papa's Got a Brand New Black Bag

Black Bag lays its cards on the table early on. A sumptuous follow shot tracks Micheal Fassbender from the street, down to the depths of a trendy London club and back out again where his colleague informs him a nasty mcguffin has been stolen from the intelligence agency they work at and there are five possible suspects, including Fassbender's wife. He has one week to find the traitor or lives will be lost, setting the scene for cat and mouse spy antics. Don't be holding out for some James Bond style action though (even if Pierce Brosnan is present as the man in charge), director Steven Soderbergh is here to deliver a talky espionage thriller based around beautiful and very intelligent people looking cool and acting smart. An "Ocean's 11" set in the world of British spies. If you think that sounds pretty great, then you are correct.

The film is an ensemble piece but Fassbender is more or less the lead as spy catcher George, known for being ice cold even amongst his colleagues, he has never failed to crack someone in an interrogation. Cate Blanchett plays his wife Kathryn, a spy with a fearsome reputation and ambitions for the top job, the only chink in her armour being a constant nagging worry about money. Joining Kathryn on the suspect list are; Dr. Zoe Vaughan (Naomie Harris), the agency shrink who is privy to all the personal secrets, her boyfriend, the newly promoted James (a smooth as ever Rege-Jean Page), as well as the man he was promoted over, experienced but booze loving Freddie (Tom Burke) and his girlfriend Clarissa (Marisa Abela), a satellite image expert with a penchant for older men. To emphasis the kind of spy movie this is, George's first move is to invite all the suspects to dinner. Considering being invited to the espionage power couple's for dinner a mark of respect, the guests are unaware they have been dosed with truth serum and an excruciating get together ensues as George throws a metaphorical rock into the pool so he can observe the ripples over the following days.

Chases, shoot outs and explosions are (mostly) out. Loaded conversations, ambiguous loyalties and sly manoeuvrings are in. If you think that makes the movie slow then think again, whether its the dinner party from hell, Fassbender fishing on a lake, people staring at satellite images or a trip to the cinema, the runtime flies by and there is something entertaining in every scene. More than anything else, the movie is just so stylish you can't take your eyes off it and it oozes the kind of finesse that Soderbergh makes look so effortless. The quality on display makes it easy to overlook the odd bit of forced dialogue and the general silliness of the premise (the stolen article is as ridiculous as these things always are in spy films) and it is interesting to watch people operate in world where nothing can be taken for granted. One of the recurring questions is how can a relationship survive in such circumstances, how can even people this good looking be with each other when they can't trust a word one another says? Watching the answer play out is ridiculously satisfying and it sticks the landing with a neat bookend to the opening get together. The quality of the cast speaks for itself and everybody brings a unique texture to what could have been slick but one dimensional parts.

More John Le Carre than Ian Fleming, Black Bag is a pristine throwback to Cold War era spy stories and an exercise in simply making a good movie. An economical premise that allows an A list cast to do their thing with top drawer technical filmmaking making everything look as good as it possibly can. A bag that should be opened.

8 Tench caught from 10 fishing trips.

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