Spenser Confidential (2020)

Directed by Peter Berg. Starring Mark Wahlberg, Winston Duke, Alan Arkin, Ilza Shlesinger, Bokeem Woodbine, Hope Olaide Wilson, Michael Gaston, Mark Maron, Colleen Camp, Austin Post, Ayana Brown, Dustin Tucker. [R]

Crooked police captain Gaston gets killed the same day that ex-cop/ex-con Spenser (Wahlberg) gets out of the joint; Spenser had a grudge against the deceased, but decides to investigate anyway, blowing the lid off a stewpot of dirty cops, drugs, murder conspiracies, the usual. Garden variety, convoluted-but-uninteresting action-noir-mystery is a study in tonal disarray, with scenes of somber reflection and brutish violence crashing against Shlesinger’s abrasive “Bahston” kook and Arkin’s patented irascible wisecracks. Filmmakers try to solve the erratic pacing issues by having a fight break out every twenty minutes or so; fortunately, the music and camera filters will cue the appropriate whooping or cringing response. Duke, as a soft-spoken “gentle giant” of a wannabe-MMA fighter, plays the only compelling character onscreen (when not forced to go through the “buddy comedy” motions). Based on the private eye character created by Robert B. Parker (previously the subject of television series “Spenser: For Hire”).

40/100