For Mike McKenna (Mark Wahlberg), high school days represent the pinnacle of his life, while his former love, Roxanne Hall (Halle Berry), managed to escape the confines of New Jersey and become part of a secretive spy organization known as the Union.
Roxanne casually describes the Union as a clandestine group with limited awareness among the intelligence community, saying, “Half the intelligence community don’t know we exist, and the other half regret finding out.”
In The Union, a wish-fulfillment fantasy from Netflix, the plot centers on Mike and Roxanne’s reunion despite a familiar spy narrative. Wahlberg’s character yearns for a James Bond-like existence, a dream unlikely for the Dorchester native.
The film’s central gimmick involves integrating an ordinary working-class man into a standard action framework, which feels tenuous at best. The Union’s mission is to recover stolen data on every Western allied operative, a plot echoing the original Mission: Impossible. Roxanne picks Mike, a regular guy not on the list, for the job.
Mike’s routine revolves around frequenting the same bar, hoping Roxanne might return. Their reunion is marked by juvenile humor, underscoring the film’s target audience of adolescent viewers, despite Wahlberg’s intentions of appealing to blue-collar men.
The film’s shortcomings become evident in its recycled action scenes and underdeveloped characters, including the woefully wasted Lorraine Bracco as Mike’s mother.
While Wahlberg and Berry have previously excelled in action roles, their performances here fall short, often appearing unconvincing. The film fails to capture the charm or excitement that could have made the premise engaging, undermining the notion of a Jersey boy as a convincing spy.