Argylle

Director: Matthew Vaughn

Written by: Jason Fuchs

Elly Conway (Bryce Dallas Howard) is a writer of Bondesque spy novels. Struggling to finish her fifth installment, she gets a train to visit her mother (Catherine O’Hara) to try to figure out the ending. On the train her life is changed when she meets Aidan (Sam Rockwell) a real life spy, who has come to protect her. Because it turns out she is not only writing stories, but making predictions that are happening in the real world of espionage. This has made her a target for a shadowy group of bad guys, headed up by Ritter (Bryan Cranston). Aidan, Elly and her cat Alfie, set off on an adventure to get her and the information she knows into safe hands.

Tucked away somewhere in Argylle is a 75 minute, entertaining and funny spy parody. The problem is that idea is stretched into a 139 minutes and it really doesn’t have enough to sustain it.

It’s hard some harsh reviews, and in its defence it’s not a complete disaster. There are bits that work. It has moments where it’s funny and it has some decent set pieces, including an extremely colourful shoot out in the bad guys lair. All with an enjoyable soundtrack.

It also has a likeable cast. Rockwell is enjoyable as his down to earth spy. Bryce Dallas Howard an always enjoyable presence and you can’t go wrong with Bryan Cranston. Henry Cavill rocks up as Elly’s embodiment of Argylle. Alongside a starry set of cameo’s including Ariana De Bose Dua Lipa, John Cena and Richard E.Grant. All with an enjoyable soundtrack.

It’s problem is, the nugget of the idea, is just not strong enough and it’s stretched beyond breaking point far to early. It’s plot is more hole than plot and it didn’t know when to stop as it just kept going, going and going, having long since stopped being interesting.

Argylle had a nugget of a fun idea. But it’s an idea that is stretched about an hour too far, and it’s not smart or funny enough to sustain it. While it has its moments, it doesn’t have enough and will most definitely leave you wanting less.