Spenser Confidential
Director: Peter
Berg
Year: 2020
Rating: 6.0
This isn't bad - pretty standard tough guy beats
up the bad guys sort of thing but what the hell does it have to do with Spenser?
The Spenser in this has as much of a resemblance to the Robert Parker books
or the TV show as I do to Fort McKinley. The only thing the film has in common
with Spenser is his partner is black - but not the super cool menacing black
Hawk character from the books. Hell, Hawk even got his own TV series for
a year. Not this guy. He was much cooler in the Black Panther film. Does
the Spenser name still generate box office after all these years? Maybe.
Among the folks in the nursing homes. And it wasn't even based on one of
Parker's books - but instead - in theory the film is based on the novel Wonderland
which was written by Parker's successor - Ace Atkins. What kind of name is
that for a writer anyways. Maybe a rodeo star. And then get this - the film
has nothing in common with the book. But I like Mark Wahlberg and Alan Arkin
in pretty much everything and his very South Boooston slightly trashy girlfriend
was fun - though far from a lawyer like Susan Silverberg was in the books
and TV show. Admittedly, Susan used to drive me nuts in the Spenser books
and Parker would give the pair pages in which they talked about relationships
and feelings and I just wanted to rip those out.
I suppose you could look at this as an origin
story of Spenser - but it is entirely made up. Again, why call this Spenser
if it has nothing to do with Spenser other than the setting of Boston. It
begins with him as a cop beating the crap out of a superior officer. For
good reasons of course but the courts don't look at it that way and sentence
him to five years in prison. Among the general population. Which for cops
is often a death sentence. He survives though on his last day three White
Supremacists try to shiv him. His plan is to move to Arizona and avoid his
ex-girlfriend Cissy (Iliza Shlesinger) who is a total ballbuster. But he
needs it. He moves back temporarily - he expects - with his old landlord
Henry played by Alan Arkin as a garrulous old codger. There is a fair amount
of humor in these interactions. He also finds out that he has a roommate
who has gained the affection of his dog while he was gone. Hawk (Winston
Duke) who is way bigger than a bread box or a mini van.
When he sees on the news that a cop that
he once knew has killed himself after murdering the cop that Spenser beat
up, he knows something is off about it. And decides to snoop. With the help
of his new buddy Hawk. Some people don't like that and try and kill him a
few times. A very traditional action film with no CGI and only a modest amount
of gun play and fistfights. I like Wahlberg in most things - his low-key
acting style appeals to me - and he fits nicely into his hometown surroundings
of Southie, Boston.
