“Spenser Confidential” isn’t great, but it’ll do
Actor Mark Wahlberg and director Peter Berg obviously enjoy working together.
Since partnering on the generally well-received 2013 war film “Lone Survivor,” the pair has made three more theatrical feature releases: 2016’s “Deepwater Horizon” (which offered some entertaining and/or gripping moments); 2016’s “Patriots
Day”; and 2018’s “Mile 22.”
Their most recent collaboration, “Spenser Confidential,” dropped March 6 on Netflix.
Initially, the action-drama about a disgraced Boston cop out to determine why his former police commander was murdered and bring the bad guys to justice was of little interest to me.
A lot has changed since March 6.
As we’re all going to be looking for more indoor entertainment, with streaming offerings likely to be a go-to
for many folks, I thought I’d start by taking in “Spenser Confidential.”
It’s, well, OK. Grading it alongside theatrical releases, it’s at best middleof-the-pack stuff.
But as a movie you’ve never seen before offering not just Wahlberg but also the always-enjoyable Alan Arkin, it gets a small but undeniable bump.
(And, hey, if nothing else, it overflows with actors attempting Boston accents. “Lobstah” is said prominently in the final minutes. That’s something.)
We meet Wahlberg’s Spenser on the day he is pleading guilty to a handful of charges, including assaulting an officer. That officer? His aforementioned superior, Captain Boylan (Michael Gaston, “Bridge of Spies”). We get images of Spenser punching Boylan, but we get the answer as to why fist was meeting face later.
“Spenser Confidential” then jumps ahead five years, to the end of the titular character’s time in prison, where his savvy has kept him in one piece while existing in the facility’s general population. A few members of the Aryan Brotherhood try to give him a violent going-away present in the library, but he’s mostly a match for them.
He’s picked up by dear friend Henry (Arkin) — the owner of a boxing/ mixed martial arts gym with whom he’s entrusted the care of his aging dog, Pearl — and immediately goes about trying to avoid his fiery ex, Cissy (Iliza Shlesinger).
His plan is to learn how to drive a big rig and move to Arizona to start a new life. However, after Boylan is lured into a school bus yard and executed, Spenser can think of little else.
“WHO KILLED BOYLAN???” he writes on his notepad in truck class, underlining the late captain’s last name. (“WHY?” he adds, underlining and circling the all-important three-letter word.) Topnotch notetaking, sir.
He grows frustrated by what he seems as a strange amount of apathy from some in the department, including old pal Driscoll (Bokeem Woodbine of “Spider-Man: Homecoming” and FX’s “Fargo”), who seemingly does little more than check into Spenser’s alibi on the night of the murder.
Spenser is able to recruit his roommate at Henry’s, aspiring MMA fighter Hawk (Winston Duke of “Black Panther’’ and “Us”), into his private investigation, and the two go to work.
Spenser forges ahead despite the objections of Henry — “Don’t do it, Spense,” Henry implores as Spenser watches a related news report — and Cissy, with whom he has an, um, intense reunión in a restaurant bathroom. (He also gets the snot beaten out of him in another restroom. Man, this guy and public toilets.)
“Spenser Confidential” ambles along in the most predictable of fashions. The aforementioned fist fights are had, and a few things blow up along the way.
At its heart is Beantown native Wahlberg, who’s at his best when he’s not asked to show much range. As a good guy from Boston, he’s certainly in his element.
“Why are you doing this?” asks the widow (Hope Olaide Wilson) of another murdered officer (Brandon Scales) ensnared in the affair.
“Because it’s the right thing to do,” Spenser says earnestly.