Justin Chang

Hollywood gangster movies, even the ones as dubious and derivative as this one, have always known a thing or two about selling us a beautiful lie.

It feels like only yesterday that I was recommending a new movie from the director Steven Soderbergh and the screenwriter David Koepp. Actually, it was about two months ago. The movie was Presence, a ghost story made with the thrift and ingenuity that Soderbergh has long been known for. He and Kep have become ideal creative partners.

It feels like only yesterday that I was recommending a new movie from the director Steven Soderbergh and the screenwriter David Koepp. Actually, it was about two months ago. The movie was Presence, a ghost story made with the thrift and ingenuity that Soderbergh has long been known for. He and Kep have become ideal creative partners.

It feels like only yesterday that I was recommending a new movie from the director Steven Soderbergh and the screenwriter David Koepp. Actually, it was about two months ago. The movie was Presence, a ghost story made with the thrift and ingenuity that Soderbergh has long been known for. He and Kep have become ideal creative partners.

They're both prolific Hollywood veterans in their early 60s who know genre conventions inside out. and who continue to play with those conventions in smart, stylish ways. Compared with Presence and their earlier thriller, Kimmy, Soderbergh and Kep's latest outing, Black Bag, is certainly a slicker, bigger-budget affair.

They're both prolific Hollywood veterans in their early 60s who know genre conventions inside out. and who continue to play with those conventions in smart, stylish ways. Compared with Presence and their earlier thriller, Kimmy, Soderbergh and Kep's latest outing, Black Bag, is certainly a slicker, bigger-budget affair.

They're both prolific Hollywood veterans in their early 60s who know genre conventions inside out. and who continue to play with those conventions in smart, stylish ways. Compared with Presence and their earlier thriller, Kimmy, Soderbergh and Kep's latest outing, Black Bag, is certainly a slicker, bigger-budget affair.

But it still has a breezy, light-fingered intelligence that feels consistent with their M.O., Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender star as Catherine and George, two brilliant, high-ranking operatives for Britain's National Cyber Security Centre, or NCSC. They're also a long-time married couple.

But it still has a breezy, light-fingered intelligence that feels consistent with their M.O., Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender star as Catherine and George, two brilliant, high-ranking operatives for Britain's National Cyber Security Centre, or NCSC. They're also a long-time married couple.

But it still has a breezy, light-fingered intelligence that feels consistent with their M.O., Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender star as Catherine and George, two brilliant, high-ranking operatives for Britain's National Cyber Security Centre, or NCSC. They're also a long-time married couple.

Not an easy feat in a profession where monogamous commitment, especially between two agents, is virtually unheard of. it's fair to ask how much Catherine and George can really trust each other, given the insane levels of duplicity and compartmentalization their jobs require.

Not an easy feat in a profession where monogamous commitment, especially between two agents, is virtually unheard of. it's fair to ask how much Catherine and George can really trust each other, given the insane levels of duplicity and compartmentalization their jobs require.

Not an easy feat in a profession where monogamous commitment, especially between two agents, is virtually unheard of. it's fair to ask how much Catherine and George can really trust each other, given the insane levels of duplicity and compartmentalization their jobs require.

The title, Black Bag, is basically shorthand for classified intel, something Catherine and George say when they're going somewhere or doing something that they can't disclose. The plot is set in motion by one of those signature movie MacGuffins. A deadly cyberweapon called Severus has fallen into the wrong hands.

The title, Black Bag, is basically shorthand for classified intel, something Catherine and George say when they're going somewhere or doing something that they can't disclose. The plot is set in motion by one of those signature movie MacGuffins. A deadly cyberweapon called Severus has fallen into the wrong hands.

The title, Black Bag, is basically shorthand for classified intel, something Catherine and George say when they're going somewhere or doing something that they can't disclose. The plot is set in motion by one of those signature movie MacGuffins. A deadly cyberweapon called Severus has fallen into the wrong hands.

NCSC suspects one of its own, and so it enlists George, a master at sussing out lies, to figure out who. George tells Catherine that they'll be hosting a dinner party for four of their colleagues, one of whom is the mole. What he doesn't tell Catherine is that she herself is a suspect.

NCSC suspects one of its own, and so it enlists George, a master at sussing out lies, to figure out who. George tells Catherine that they'll be hosting a dinner party for four of their colleagues, one of whom is the mole. What he doesn't tell Catherine is that she herself is a suspect.

NCSC suspects one of its own, and so it enlists George, a master at sussing out lies, to figure out who. George tells Catherine that they'll be hosting a dinner party for four of their colleagues, one of whom is the mole. What he doesn't tell Catherine is that she herself is a suspect.

Fun and games.