Film: Argylle
Cast: Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, Samuel Jackson, Sofia Boutella, Henry Cavill, John Cena, Dua Lipa
Director: Mathew Vaughn
Rating: 1/5
Runtime: 139 min.

The premise here, about a reclusive author who writes espionage novels about a secret agent and a global spy syndicate, being forced to realize that the plot of the new book she`s writing has started to mirror real-world events, in real time, had a lot of potential. Unfortunately, the treatment here is so devoid of energy that you just about manage to sit through it hoping it will all get over soon.

‘Argylle’ is visually spiffy but the engagement is lacklustre. Far more interesting-looking actors like Henry Cavill, Dua Lipa, and John Cena are mere window dressing here while the dead-eyed Bryce Dallas Howard as Elly Conway and a rather indistinct Sam Rockwell as Aidan/Wyatt, sway in and out of day-time hallucinations as the narrative plods along on its premeditated path towards self-destruction. Even the always imposing Samuel Jackson had very little to impose upon here.