The biggest mistake you could make going into ‘Argylle’ is taking it too seriously; this spy comedy is so silly, so ready to have fun, that if you believe that you’re in for serious spy fare, well……disappointment, welcome.
That said, if you’re open to a good dose of fluff, this is a winsome sit.
‘Argylle’ features Bryce Dallas Howard as Elly Conway, celebrated author of spy fare. Her main character in a series of novels, Argylle (Henry Cavill) is a definite 007 knockoff, often hanging on her words to proceed further into danger. And with the culminating novel in his series stuck on a cliffhanger, Elly decides to visit her mom (Catherine O’Hara) for the weekend to flush out the details on how to proceed.
En route to see her mama via train (she is afraid to fly), Elly runs across Aidan (Sam Rockwell), a real spy, complete with quips and a scrappy nature. It turns out that Elly’s books are so on target with underground rumblings that she’s suddenly a target in the espionage world. Add Bryan Cranston as a baddie and Samuel L. Jackson as a laid-back cool mentor, and well……really, what’s not to like here?
Director Matthew Vaughn keeps proceedings cooking, tosses in twists, and…as previously mentioned….adds enough over-the-top cheese that ‘Argylle’ is pretty much irresistable. I know, it ain’t overly smart, and given the execution, I’m not entirely sure how memorable this all will be. But for the moment, it’s fun. And what’s wrong with fun?