This Spy Story May Raise Some Uncomfortable Questions

In many ways, the act of spying can be seen as the professional form of gaslighting. Spies present false personas in order to ingratiate themselves to other people and ultimately to manipulate and mislead. This is the dramatic territory the new movie “Rogue Agent” explores by directly linking a spy story with the age-old tale of deception and exploitation within a relationship.Inspired by a true story, the movie begins in Shropshire in the 1990s with a crackerjack sequence of a secret agent enlisting and engaging young university students as volunteer spies for the British security service’s fight against the IRA. The film then cuts to nine years later in London, where the agent, Robert Hansen, works at a luxury car dealership, which of course is a cover for his other job. He soon meets Alice Archer, a beautiful corporate lawyer, and this is when the movie, which up to this point we’re led to believe is a thriller, becomes a strange romantic comedy, complete with a corny dance and bland, cutesy conversation.Like the recent “Both Sides of the Blade,” it would seem that the directing duo of Adam Patterson and Declan Lawn don’t quite know what kind of film they’re making. Incidental scenes of courtship that would have been more effective if shortened drag the movie off course. Yet during a pivotal moment when Robert discloses to Alice that he is an agent with MI5, she accepts it too readily, with barely any follow-up questions one would expect from such a high-powered attorney. The movie simply returns to its awkward mix of scenes involving their romance and his ominous maneuvers with one of his earlier recruits.The soundtrack, set design, wardrobe and styling of the movie — more 1980s than 2000s — also reflect this narrative randomness, with Robert looking more like Michael Douglas’s Gordon Gekko character in “Wall Street” than an early-aughts car salesman-cum-spy. It’s possible these anachronisms and inconsistencies are meant to clue us in to what’s really going on, but they come off as sloppy and distracting. Then, at about the hour mark, “Rogue Agent” crystallizes into a movie both recognizable in terms of plot and disturbingly unpredictable. Without divulging any spoilers, the filmmakers perform a sleight of hand while also admitting to a red herring, and the riveting sequence at the very start of the movie turns out to be more familiarly sordid though still ingenious. From this point onward, the film sharpens its focus as the determined Alice becomes a type of spy herself, lying and concealing her intentions for the sake of getting to the truth about Robert.Actress Gemma Arterton shines as Alice during this phase of the movie, bringing her seductive steeliness to the character’s pursuit. The same could be said of James Norton as Robert, with his occasionally sibilant utterances much more effective during the more consistently dramatic second hour than during its pseudo-sentimental first.While illogical dialogue and plot holes still peek out now and then as the movie heads to its otherwise satisfying climax, “Rogue Agent” definitely hits on something novel: When you start dating someone and proceed to find out more about him or her, it can feel like you’re spying. And when the viewer is informed through an epilogue before the credits roll that the real events on which the movie was based remain unresolved, and that the main character continues to pursue his calling, it might just make us suspicious of everyone we encounter.

This Spy Story May Raise Some Uncomfortable Questions

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