Mark Wahlberg and Halle Berry Star in Mediocre Spy Comedy ‘The Union’

“The Union,” an action comedy starring Mark Wahlberg and Halle Berry, had all the ingredients for success. Big stars and a substantial globetrotting budget promised much, yet the film ultimately misses the mark. Lacking a distinctive charm, it risks becoming just another Netflix movie you play in the background.

Streaming from Friday, “The Union” presents a fairy tale very much rooted in the male experience. It follows Mike, a middle-aged construction worker from Patterson, New Jersey. Life hasn’t been kind to Mike; he’s financially struggling, living with his mother, and spending time with old friends at local bars. His life’s recent highlight? A one-night fling with his seventh-grade English teacher. Now, his biggest concern is acting as the best man at a friend’s upcoming wedding.

Mike’s mundane life gets a twist when Roxanne, his old high school flame, storms into a bar one evening looking like a punk-rock superhero. Self-assured and glamorous, Roxanne’s entrance shakes up Mike’s stagnant existence. The plot promptly reveals that she has thrived outside of Patterson, unlike Mike.

Instead of putting the audience in Mike’s perspective as he gradually discovers Roxanne’s world, “The Union” opts to introduce us to her first. It begins with a “Mission: Impossible”-style operation in Trieste, Italy, that goes disastrously wrong, killing most of her team. Turning to Mike for his working-class grit seems to be Roxanne’s solution for a fresh start.

Stephen Levinson, Wahlberg’s longtime business partner, conceptualized the film, previously collaborating on another Netflix action-comedy, “Spenser Confidential.” Julian Farino directs, known for his work on “Entourage,” while Joe Barton and David Guggenheim penned the screenplay. There’s an appealing fantasy in the narrative that suggests almost anyone could become a decent international spy with just a bit of training. In cinematic tales, women might discover they were secret royalty, while men often find out they could be world-class spies.

Yet, “The Union” struggles to find its tonal balance. It’s caught between the realms of action and comedy, without fully embracing either. J.K. Simmons, playing the head of the covert agency, is underutilized alongside other underdeveloped characters portrayed by Jackie Earle Haley, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, and Alice Lee. One of the film’s few consistent jokes involves Mike going undercover as a Boston native, leading to comedic, if predictable, interactions.

Berry and Wahlberg share an easy rapport but lack the necessary chemistry to pull off a convincing “will-they-won’t-they” romance. The supposed romantic tension between a man clinging to his roots and a woman who has outgrown them feels forced rather than natural. It’s tough to believe these characters are still dwelling on their high school romance given all that’s happened since. Sometimes, the narrative has to serve the actors, and here, it fails to do so.

Overall, “The Union” suffers from a lack of compelling elements — be it action, humor, romance, or artistic merit — to fully capture and hold the viewer’s attention. It’s a casualty of the streaming era, where high-budget films often fall short of expectations.

“The Union,” rated PG-13 for sequences of strong violence, suggestive material, and some strong language, begins streaming on Netflix this Friday. Its run-time is 107 minutes, and it earns a mere one and a half stars out of four.

Source: Laura Radford/Netflix via AP