Netflix streams the 2024 thriller “The Union.” It’s the kind of film that may have gotten a theatrical release back in the day. Mark Wahlberg stars as Mike, a regular Jersey guy and construction worker who just so happens to meet his old high school girlfriend Roxanne (Halle Berry) in a bar, where they discuss just what’s happened in the 25 years since prom and graduation day.
Back when music used to matter, movies and TV shows employed pop songs as cultural markers, pegging characters’ ages and eras, disposition, class, status and personality. Now that every tune is up for grabs in the great Spotify list of life, music has been reduced to background noise, bereft of sound and fury and signifying nothing.
Roxanne and Mike meet cute and get slightly tipsy to the strains of “I’ll Be Around” by the Spinners, a song that was a hit in 1972, when Wahlberg the person was still in diapers. Their conversation pegs their high school graduation to 1999, a time when seniors might be nostalgic for Wahlberg’s brother’s band, New Kids on the Block.
I get it, this is a movie that requires a suspension of disbelief. But why use cultural benchmarks just to say they mean nothing?
Negation looms large as Mike and his old flame proceed to canoodle, providing Roxanne the chance to whip out a hypodermic, drug him and transport him to London. It seems that while Mike remained in Jersey, she became a secret agent. Apparently nefarious elements have stolen a file containing the names of all of America’s spies. Not to be insensitive, but Roxanne the spy needs a stranger to infiltrate their system and retrieve that information. She chose Mike because he’s a nobody. Ouch!
So, Wahlberg the working-class stiff palooka nobody is quickly trained in spy craft by Roxanne’s glib boss (J.K. Simmons). Let the frantic chase scenes, explosions, shootouts and thundering musical score (recycling old Motown tunes without subtlety) commence!
In some ways, “The Union” is only interesting because Mike is a nobody, an average schmo. For some time now, comic-book adaptations and fantasies have told us that unless you are born or “destined” to be a demi-god, superhero or mutant, you are powerless and might as well give up. In its own way, “The Union” hearkens back to films like “North by Northwest,” starring Cary Grant as Roger O. Thornhill, an advertising man mistaken for a spy who then rises to the occasion much to the surprise of the CIA and the chagrin of the KGB.
There the resemblance ends. Released in 1959, Alfred Hitchcock’s “North by Northwest” is still worth watching and marveling over after nearly seven decades. It’s not clear if anybody will still be thinking about “The Union” after a week.
Speaking of weeks, “Union” is the third potentially successful theatrical summer release to enter the streaming glut over the last seven days. The others are “Jackpot” (Prime Video) starring John Cena and Awkwafina, and “The Instigators” (Apple TV+), starring Matt Damon and Casey Affleck.
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
— The leader of the pack leaders returns as “Cesar Millan: Better Human Better Dog” (8 p.m., National Geographic, TV-PG) enters its fifth season. Episodes will stream on Hulu starting tomorrow.
— A grieving woman discovers a link between a handsome Scandinavian man and her garden gnome in the 2023 romance “My Norwegian Holiday” (9 p.m., Hallmark, TV-G).
— Frank loses yet another best friend on “Blue Bloods” (10 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14).
CULT CHOICE
Dustin Hoffman stars in the 1995 thriller “Outbreak” (8:30 p.m., BBC America, TV-14), which envisioned a viral pandemic on these shores some 25 years before COVID-19 claimed the lives of more than 1 million Americans.
SERIES NOTES
“Let’s Make a Deal Primetime” (8 p.m., CBS, TV-PG) … “American Ninja Warrior” (8 p.m., NBC, r, TV-PG) … “WWE Friday Night SmackDown” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-PG) … “Jeopardy! Masters” (8 p.m., ABC, r, TV-PG) … “Lingo” (9 p.m., CBS, TV-PG) … “Dateline” (9 p.m., NBC, r) … “20/20” (9 p.m., ABC).
LATE NIGHT
Kevin Hart, Erica Rhodes and Andrew Bird appear on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” (11:35 p.m., CBS, r) … Jimmy Fallon welcomes Matt Damon, Josh Hartnett and HARDY on “The Tonight Show” (11:35 p.m., NBC, r) … Natalie Portman, Noah Kahan and Maika Monroe visit “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (12:35 a.m., NBC, r) … Taylor Tomlinson hosts Lisa Gilroy, Reid Scott and Kimia Behpoornia on “After Midnight” (12:35 a.m., CBS, r).
