Big Picture Big Sound

"Man" will have you saying "UNCLE"

"Do you know what's happening?" my friend turned to me and asked during a screening of Guy Ritchie's "The Man From U.N.C.L.E."

"Not really," I responded.

Ritchie's film isn't necessarily overly-convoluted, but fails to connect a few dots along the way. It requires the audience to do a lot of the heavy lifting. "The Man From U.N.C.L.E" has a playful tone and is pure glossy escapism but has the heft of a magazine cologne ad. It's all pretty pictures and nothing substantial. In other words, it's a Guy Ritchie movie.

I was caught up in moments of the film - some exciting action scenes or picturesque locations. More often, however, I was distracted by the inherent blandness of star Henry Cavill. Cavill has been around a bit, notably on the television show "The Tudors", but has made himself a household name as the new Superman. In the dreary "Man of Steel", Cavill seemed one-note as the angsty hero. In "The Man From U.N.C.L.E.", he is required to play a suave CIA agent but never does so convincingly. When your top-billed star falls flat, chances are he may bring your movie down with him.

Cavill's Solo is begrudgingly paired with a KGB agent named Illya (Armie Hammer, sporting a very thick Russian accent). There is a history of contempt between Solo and Illya and forcing them to work together doesn't mean they will get along. Solo and Illya are tasked with disbanding an organization, which possesses nuclear weapons. Hopefully, these boys can play nice long enough to make sure the world doesn't get obliterated.

Thrown in the mix is Gaby (Alicia Vikander), a mechanic and daughter of a renowned scientist. Solo and Illya have different reasons for needing to get to Gaby, which only adds to the animosity between the two of them. Vikander continues to grow as the ubiquitous star of the year, already wowing us in "Ex Machina". She's smart, sassy and alluring here. Even when she is the most charismatic character in the movie, it's a shame the screenplay (co-written by Ritchie and Lionel Wigram) treats her like a mere plot device.

Those familiar with the 1960s television series of the same name, upon which the movie is based, will more than likely enjoy the film. Ritchie has a bit of a following - thanks to "Snatch" and the enormous success of the "Sherlock Holmes" movies - so his fans may enjoy this as well. I've never found Ritchie to be an interesting filmmaker. He's more interested in the bombast than the substance and disappointingly never finds a way to have them work in concert with each other.

At times the Solo-Illya patter works and sometimes the movie visually pops. Unfortunately, "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." is a movie of mere moments. It's nothing that will stay with you after leaving the theatre.