Did Taylor Swift write this spy caper?
Argylle (12A, 139 mins)
Verdict: Nuts but fun ★★★☆☆
MATTHEW VAUGHN’S enjoyably bonkers new spy comedy is matched by its extravagantly nutty publicity campaign, which a few weeks ago yielded the bizarre sight of a group of Chelsea ‘ fans’ ostentatiously brushing their teeth during the West London derby match with Fulham. Evidently the Chelsea owner Todd Boehly has some financial involvement in the film.
The men were also pictured holding a copy of Argylle the novel, allegedly written by a young American woman called Elly Conway. There are rumours online that Elly is actually Taylor Swift, and other (more convincing) theories that the book was created by AI. Whatever the truth is, the film’s a hoot.
It stars Bryce Dallas Howard as none other than the aforementioned Ms Conway, a staid, homely but enormously successful writer of espionage fiction, devoted to her cat, whose life suddenly takes an unexpected turn when her suspiciously realistic plots attract the interest of real spies.
The movie goes through some truly preposterous contortions to establish whether the characters played by Sam Rockwell, Bryan Cranston and Samuel L. Jackson are goodies or baddies, and on whom Elly’s fictional hero, the square-jawed, eponymous Argylle ( Henry Cavill), might be based.
Clocking in at just under twoand-a-half hours, it does start to feel like a bit of an endurance test after a while. But in the nick of time the whole spectacle is lifted by a couple of genuinely exhilarating, laugh- out- loud action sequences.
Moreover, the entire cast — including Dua Lipa, Ariana DeBose, Catherine O’Hara and John Cena
— look like they’re having huge amounts of fun throughout. Which always helps.