Movie Review: ARGYLLE

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN / Staff Writer

Posted: February 2nd, 2024 / 02:29 AM

ARGYLLE movie poster | ©2024 Universal Pictures/Apple+

Rating: R
Stars: Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, Henry Cavill, Bryan Cranston, Catherine O’Hara, Sofia Boutella, John Cena, Samuel L. Jackson
Writer: Jason Fuchs
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Distributor: Universal Pictures/Apple+
Release Date: February 2, 2024

With more plot twists than a tartan has squares, ARGYLLE combines ROMANCING THE STONE with – well, let’s not completely give the game away. We’ll say it starts out as one of those movies where a woman author unexpectedly finds herself living out one of her novels.

In ARGYLLE, writer Elly Conway (Bryce Dallas Howard) pens espionage tales rather than romance. This immediately raises our hopes, as while it’s always possible to bring something new to a subgenre, a lot of the romcom versions of this retread the notion of making fun of romance tropes while simultaneously wanting us to buy into them.

Here, readers are impressed with Elly’s details about spycraft, even if her main character Argylle (Henry Cavill) tends to dress more like 007 than a real undercover agent would. Elly likes doing book signings and Q&As, and normally, she has a good flow. But writer’s block has struck. Mom (Catherine O’Hara) suggests that Elly visit her parents for the weekend; Mom will help Elly brainstorm.

So, Elly – who is phobic about airplanes – packs up her laptop and her beloved cat Alfie and takes the train to see the folks. Instead of reaching her intended destination, she finds herself in the middle of some real knives flashing, guns blazing spy vs. spy action.

The script by Jason Fuchs spins us around so successfully that, like Elly, we’re not sure who to trust either. There are so many reveals and reversals that we wind up anticipating more, even once they’ve effectively stopped.

Director Matthew Vaughn loves his speeding, sparking, circling, smoke-exploding chases and fights, with literal dance moves incorporated into some of them. This is Bond and MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE slightly on helium.

There’s a lot to enjoy here, including some great scenery, plenty of fun surprises, and a cast where everybody knows what they’re doing. Howard displays great versatility and appeal as the protagonist. Sam Rockwell, as a shaggy stranger who approaches Elly on the train, has a role that lets him exhibit charisma and soul, which he does with apparent effortlessness.

One minor gripe is that ARGYLLE is occasionally too convinced of its own charm and wit. There’s an air of self-congratulation that pops up here and there, keeping us at a bit of a remove.

A bigger error in terms of some of the audience is the handling of Alfie the cat, which becomes distracting. Sometimes he’s CGI, which is in itself noticeable. But we see enough of a real animal to be concerned, not for the performing cat (we can assume all safety protocols were followed, and he’s clearly CGI when anything perilous occurs), but for the character. Frankly, every time he’s sidelined in the story, we worry about what’s happening with him more than we worry about the humans, which is probably not what the filmmakers intended.

Still, overall, ARGYLLE is clever and fun – probably even worth watching again just to see what clues can be picked up along the way to hint at all the crucial switchbacks. Once it’s over, it’s also worth comparing to a certain other spy series and imagining how much livelier that could be with just a touch of ARGYLLE’s spirit.

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