Spenser Confidential: Movie Review

"Spenser Confidential" is a no nonsense and pretty generic action comedy meaning it's a film you'll forget the minute the credits roll. But the charm and wit of Mark Wahlberg carries this pretty pedestrian experience into enjoyable territory.

Spenser (Mark Wahlberg) just spent five years in prison for beating up his corrupt superior. But finally, after serving his due time, the ex-cop bet just got out of prison and is leaving Boston for good. But the first night of his freedom, two of Spenser’s former colleagues turn up murdered. The morally-correct Spenser decides to investigate on his own and bring the culprits to justice with the help of his old boxing coach and mentor, Henry (Alan Arkin), Hawk (Winston Duke), a rough and tough aspiring MMA fighter, and his foul-mouthed ex-girlfriend, Cissy (Iliza Shlesinger).

With a myriad of plot holes and logical issues, it's pretty clear that little time was spent on the story and narrative of "Spenser Confidential". It is no surprise that this deficiency also means that there is little character development even between the leads and you'll be hard pressed as a viewer to really care about anyone in the film, including Spenser himself. But this is an action film and it's really no surprise that the story and characters take a heavy back seat. In terms of action, "Spenser Confidential" doesn't really stand out but the continuous silly hijinks that Spenser finds himself in throughout the film's run time means that the film never bogs down to a crawl. What's surprisingly missing in the film though was comedy. While there are particular moments that had us laughing, the film leaned more heavily on being serious than an all-out comedy. Overall, "Spenser Confidential" is pretty much average in every aspect. It isn't great but it ain't bad either.

Rating: 3 and a half reels





Why you should watch it:
- the film never slows down to a crawl with an endless stream of silly action sequences care of Mark Wahlberg

Why you shouldn't waytch it:
- the film lacks comedy for an action comedy