BLACK BAG

This spy thriller directed by Steven Soderbergh is expertly crafted in every way: direction, editing, cinematography, music, acting, screenplay.  In short, it is an enjoyable entertainment which at 93 minutes certainly doesn't outstay its welcome.

And yet I left the cinema feeling a little dissatisfied.

Part of the problem might be that the plot isn't twisty enough.

But my main issue is with the couple at the centre of it:  Michael Fassbender as George, Cate Blanchett as Kathryn.  

Of course they both give very polished performances, and initially I was intrigued by the plot setup which is that George has to make sure that she isn't working for the other side.  There's a very good scene, probably the best in the film, when at a briefing session George learns something that I thought at the time clearly shakes his belief in his wife.

Actually it quickly turns out that his concern is that they are both being set up, so the tension that had been building around Kathryn's loyalty is dissipated, and all too quickly everything gets resolved at a dinner party.

But because I didn't find either George or Kathryn to be sympathetic characters I didn't feel any great emotion when at the end everything seems fine between them.