Troco em Dobro

Whatever the good you can say about this film, it is NOT a Spenser and Hawk story. Whoever wrote it took the names of the main characters and glued them onto a random buddy cop story. I like Wahlberg and Arkin is a great actor. But there is nothing in this movie which Robert Parker would recognize as the great characters he created. The most disappointing part is Hawk. In the books and the original series, he is a force of nature - cool, deadly and competent. Winston Duke is probably is a fine actor, but they wrote the character as if he were Michael Oher in the Blindside.

All that said, this is a good enough distraction as a whodunit action film. It has enough action, humor and conflict to fill the time. I do think they were trying to set this up as a pilot for a new Spenser series.

In Boston, the former police officer Spenser (Mark Wahlberg) is sentenced to five years in prison after beating his dirty Captain Boylan (Michael Gaston). On the day that Spenser is released, Captain Boylan and an honest police officer that was Spenser's friend are murdered. Spenser decides to investigate and teams-up with his roommate Hawk (Winston Duke) that lives with him in the house of their landlord and friend Henry (Alan Arkin).

"Spenser Confidential" is an entertaining action-comedy-crime film directed by Peter Berg. Mark Wahlberg's character is predictable following his code and the movie is funny in many moments. The conclusion is a cliffhanger for a possible sequel. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Troco em Dobro" ("Double Change")

I was a fan of the original Spencer for hire series on TV. Seeing that Mark Wahlberg was raised in the Boston area this is a just right fit for him. Having grown up in many different cities, including the Boston area , this movie brings a lot of memories back. Wahlberg brings his unique sarcasm, wit and physical presence to the role. Although it is somewhat different than the series, it is a good PI movie that you will enjoy. The thing that people have to remember is that you have to judge movies based on categories. This will never win an Academy award, but I would not compare it to titanic or pretty woman because that's not the type of movie it is. This is an action, comedy, and some what of a mystery. If you're looking for a good action movie with unique personalities and some comedy thrown in, this is your movie, enjoy.

First off, I enjoyed the movie as a strict action/detective flick. Wahlberg is likeable in just about everything he does. Alan Arkin as Henry Cimoli was perfect. Iliza Schlesinger as Cissy was sexy (those breasts!) and comical. Her standup gets annoying so keeping her screen time to a minimum in this move was a good choice. Winston Duke didn't do much with the character of Hawk other than looking imposing because he was big, not because he oozed menace. Still, it was a fun action movie that moved along at a brisk pace and had lots of great action scenes.

However, this version of Spenser has next to nothing to do with the book or TV series character other than his name. I'm not sure I understand why they bothered calling it Spenser if they changed everything about the character. The series ended over 30 years ago so its not its not like it had great name recognition. They could have called it Joe Confidential and it would have had the same impact. Spenser was a renaissance man. He was streeet smart, suave, quoted literature, was a gourmet cook, had a moral code, was loyal to his girlfriend (Susan; a college professor) and was kicked off the force for being a smartass and not blindly following bad rules, and never went to jail. Hawk and he met as young boxers and went their separate ways, one into law enforcement and one into the criminal life. They crossed paths many times, but respected each other, even if it meant squaring off against each other. Its what made their relationship special. Its why I gave the movie a chance, to see if they explored their earlier life together. I guess it did that, but they went for the cheap character development in favor or more smash ups and fist fights. Wahlberg and Duke as roommates at Henry's place was just lame writing. There was so much fertile ground that could have been covered here and they blew it.

As I said in the first paragraph, it was an enjoyable movie, but it didn't do anything to distinguish it from every other action film that gets made these days. Spenser is a unique character with such a rich background and that was just ignored for more set pieces.

Mark Wahlberg and director Peter Berg were on the same page when drawing up this neo-noir action-comedy buddy film.

Never aspiring to more than great entertainment with the simple message that sometimes the good guys DO win, and doing the right thing is the only way to live one's life, the dynamic duo of Wahlberg (Batman) and Winston Duke (A linebacker sized Robin) "upper-cut" punch their way through a fringe dirty-cop cartel in Boston as "everyman" heroes.

Alan Arkin takes on the "Alfred" role with his usual perfect droll advice and view of the world, and Iliza Shlisinger as a South Bostie version of Lois Lane (yes, I know LL comes from a different Super Hero comic;) rounds out the Bat-Team.

Lots of fun and action once the back-story is developed enough to set the stage, with a perfect mix of wry humor doled out throughout.

The cliched story of your average Joe/Jane rising to extraordinary circumstances to help out a wronged good cop by a cartel of bad guys and bad cops, works in this film, which does not apologize for being great fun, and does not pretend or aspire to be more than it is.

In the age of fake news and political agendas, great to sit back and enjoy a couple of hours of feel-good good guys win fantasy.

New action franchise? Potential for sequel is approximately 65%.