"The Man from U.N.C.L.E.", directed by Guy Ritchie

Movie, 2015

Sleek, shiny, inevitable cash-in on the 1960s spy thriller, whose production, politically, comes at a very interesting time. This is a film whose tongue is quite rightfully and respectfully in its cheek, but which isn't  as warm or charming as its source material. For all its slick delivery, the twenty-first century version feels hurried and stuck together. The conversion of Illya Kuyakin to a muscle bound intellectual doesn't entirely work, while Napolean precariously wavers between smug and charming. Perhaps it's meant to be; and the film, despite shortcomings, is very entertaining.