355 is a film that is confusingly lifeless and doesn’t explain its title until the very end, and even then it’s not really clear why writers Simon Kinberg (and director) and Theresa Rebeck thought it was appropriate. There’s something about Washington’s secret agent during the Revolutionary War – known as Agent 355 to downplay her gender – but the film itself never capitalizes on its admittedly compelling premise. there.
There’s nothing in the movie to suggest these are anything other than normal female spies. Than, 355 is an ordinary spy thriller that rises just a bit above mediocrity because of its stellar cast. Everything outside of those key female roles – or more specifically, their ability to balance action and drama – is completely unremarkable, a trend that is unfortunate upon its January release.
Generic spying content abounds 355, including a group of international intelligence agents who come together to prevent Macguffin from falling into the wrong hands. It just so happens that the spies, and a few other non-spies who join the group, are played by prominent female actors. Jessica Chastain leads the pack as Mace, a CIA agent who isn’t afraid to jump into a gunfight or fight when she drops her hat. Diane Kruger as Marie, a German spy who at first appears to be on the opposite side of Mace. Mi6 intelligence specialist Khadijah (Lupita Nyong’o) is more or less the “girl in the chair” of the big field agents, although she does join the melee from time to time. And then there’s Graciela (Penelope Cruz), a Colombian therapist who inadvertently finds herself mixed up in everything and whose sole purpose is to remind the audience that she has a family.
With an award-winning cast, 355 seems to have established itself to be something different. And to their credit, the female leads do a great job of bringing emotion and intensity to the dialogue scenes and making the action sequences as believable as possible. The only problem is that those sequences are predicted on absurd settings and are marked by goofy plot twists.
The movie asserts that these are top agents in their respective fields and yet many of the action scenes involve mind-numbing gunfights with tons of property damage and the most luxuries from ingenuity. One chase scene after another starts to wear out when there isn’t any dynamism to the locations or choreography. It also took so long for the “team” to really form, so viewers never enjoyed watching the group work together as a unit.
Solid acting can only get you so far and 355 too much focus on its plot and action, both of which are secondary criteria. It’s no surprise at all to the twists and turns that occur throughout the film – most things should be seen before these “elite agents”. And what sometimes seems like slick spy food is marred by obvious plot holes or character choices. It’s the kind of movie where the “main” good guys and bad guys are constantly letting others go, while every other protagonist or disposable bad guy is recklessly abandoned.
Somewhere out there, there’s a good movie made with The 355 in mind. Perhaps the sequel will allow the filmmakers to take some risks and get creative with the plot and action, but even that For a single film, this one is also completely forgettable. Normally, movies like this are disappointing because they waste the talent of a famous lead, but 355 should be ashamed of having gathered so much talent without doing anything about it.
355 playing in theaters.
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