6A — Wednesday, November 8, 2017
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

‘U.N.C.L.E.’ is stylish fun

‘The Man from U.N.C.L.E.’ an imperfect, but unappreciated thriller

In 2015, director Guy Ritchie 

(“King Arthur: Legend of the 
Sword”) released “The Man From 
U.N.C.L.E.,” a Cold War spy caper 
featuring Henry Cavill (“Batman 
vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice”), 
Alicia Vikander (“Submergence”) 
and Armie Hammer (“Call Me 
By Your Name”) as a motley crew 
of international spies hunting 
for a missing warhead. The film 
seemed to be one nobody had 
asked for, adapted from a low-
brow 1964 television series of 
the same name. What’s more, 
it opened just weeks after spy-
movie 
blockbuster 
“Mission 

Impossible: Rogue Nation.” As a 
result, ticket sales were less than 
spectacular. With tepid critical 
reviews, the film came and went 
as little more than a blip on the 
2015 summer movie radar. Today 
the film remains one of the most 
underrated spy films to come 
out of the last decade, featuring 
dazzling stylization, irresistible 
cast chemistry and an electrifying 
soundtrack.

The spy flick was once a pillar 

of popular cinema: Filled with 
suave machismo, high fashion and 
exorbitant amounts of innuendo, 
the style of the classic spy movie 
is a cultural icon. Today, they 
don’t make spy movies like they 
used to; box offices are dominated 
by dark, gritty films like “The 
Bourne” series, and even the 

once-campy “James Bond” films 
now boast sleek, blue-tinted color 
palettes.

“The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” 

is an homage to a bygone era of 
film. It doesn’t concern itself with 
deep, troubled backstories or a 
dark, moody aesthetic. The film 
meticulously recreates the style of 
the classic spy film, from its split-
screen action sequences to its 
dramatic camera zooms. The film 
revels in this campy, carefree style 
with just enough modern flair 
to not feel dated. Critics panned 
the film for prioritizing style over 
substance, which it did. However, 
positing that criticism of this 
kind of film is like comparing 
Dr. Pepper to fine wine. The film 
wasn’t made to be deep — it was 
made to be stylish and fun, a goal 
it achieves in spades.

The 
cast’s 
chemistry, 
too, 

stands out as a highlight of the 
film that was largely overlooked 
by critics. Each of the main 
characters is likeable on their 
own, from Cavill’s suave Napoleon 
Solo to Hammer’s stalwart Illya 
Kuryakin to Vikander’s charming 
Gaby. Together, however, these 
three feed off of one another 
and create a cast dynamic that’s 
downright 
irresistible. 
The 

characters all serve as excellent 
foils for one another, such as in 
a scene where Illya sits in a hotel 
room and quietly plays chess with 
himself, trying (and failing) to 
ignore Gaby drunkenly dancing to 
Solomon Burke’s “Cry to Me.” The 
interactions between the film’s 
main characters are repeatedly 

grin-inducing, and they’re part of 
what makes the film as much fun 
as it is.

Speaking of “Cry to Me,” did I 

mention that this soundtrack is 
incredible? Because it is. Not only 
does the film sample numerous 
’60s Italian pop classics (including 
one particularly memorable scene 
featuring 
Peppino 
Gagliardi’s 

“Che 
Vuole 
Questa 
Musica 

Stasera”), but it also contains 
numerous 
standout 
original 

compositions. A large virtue of 
these original compositions — 
composed by Daniel Pemberton 
— is how well they fit the action 
taking place on the screen. For 
example, during a car chase the 
engines may rev in unison with 
ripping electric guitar riffs, or 
the cars may bounce along a dirt 
trail to the beat of the soundtrack 
piece. This synchronization is 
subtle, but it lends the film a 
unique cadence that’s all its own.

It may not be a dramatic 

masterwork, but from my first 
viewing of “The Man From 
U.N.C.L.E.” back in 2015, I 
knew the film was significant 
as a tribute to the golden age of 
on-screen espionage, and all the 
bravado, style and campiness 
that came with it. It’s absolutely 
an imperfect film, and not one I’d 
ever try to pretend is flawless, but 
those flaws rarely seem to impact 
the 
experience 
of 
watching 

the film. Instead, “The Man 
From U.N.C.L.E.” is the type of 
cinematic experience that thrills 
and entertains for every second of 
its 116 minutes.

CBS

“Life in Pieces” airs Thursdays on CBS
‘Life in Pieces’ is busy but 
bland as it enters season 3

CBS’s attempt to compete with ‘Modern Family’ falls flat

My face blank and my spirit 

blasé, I sat in front of the screen 
on a gloomy Thursday night in 
hopes of laughing at the outlandish 
endeavors of the Short family. And 
yet, there was nothing — nothing 
in the entirety of that half-hour 
episode that evoked a genuine 
laugh or even the slightest chuckle.

While 
the 
season 
three 

premiere of CBS’s “Life in Pieces” 
wasn’t particularly awful, it felt 
generically stale in plot and tired 
in attempting (for a third year) to 
level with its prime-time sitcom 
“competition,” 
ABC’s 
“Modern 

Family.” It’s disheartening that a 
series with an innovative, vignette-
style structure and proficient 
cast appears to be traveling on 
a downwards slope, but after 
two seasons of the same old, 
scheduled humor, it’s clear why. 
A show highlighting four distinct, 
rarely 
interlinking 
plotlines 

simply translates to a whole lot of 
confusion, not the intended, nicely-
segmented chronicles of a chaotic 
family. Even more perplexing, 
sometimes there’s a tying-together 
point, and sometimes there’s just 
not.

To start off season three, 

we pick up with newlyweds 
Matt 
(Thomas 
Sadoski, 
“The 

Newsroom”) 
and 
Colleen 

(Angelique 
Cabral, 
“Enlisted”), 

whose nightmarish honeymoon is 
looking materialistically brighter 
after Colleen is granted two million 
dollars in settlement for her fall off 
of their motel balcony. But after the 

couple receives the bad news that 
the motel has filed for bankruptcy 
and the settlement is off, they are 
forced to abruptly end the whole 
family’s 
Vegas 
getaway. 
This 

short story features the all-too-
predictable arc of the newly rich 
losing all of their money, and while 
it was admittedly entertaining to 
watch the misfit family pop bottles 
on a party bus, it felt like this story 
ends before it gains any ground.

The second vignette focuses 

on Greg (Colin Hanks, “Dexter”) 
and 
Jen’s 
(Zoe 
Lister-Jones, 

“Whitney”) feeble and ineffective 
attempt to crack their daughter’s 
pacifier addiction. Again, while 
this short story brought up some 
very contemporary and amusing 
issues, such as Jen’s request that the 
fictional “pacifier fairy” be a man 
who battles against sexism, all-in-
all, it left me feeling disinterested 
and 
unaffected. 
Even 
with 

Hanks and Lister-Jones’s natural 
chemistry and quarreling, their 
comedic timing and brilliant facial 
dialogue are frequently underused 
in a mediocre plot.

Then there’s the two final 

stories (which blended together 
into one in my mind), in which 
the young and emotionally lost 
Sophia (Giselle Einsenberg) runs 
away to visit the rubble of the 
family’s 
recently 
burnt-down 

house, while elsewhere, Tyler 
(Niall Cunningham) announces 
that he and Clementine (Hunter 
King, “Hollywood Heights”) are 
“romantically unsyncing” (AKA 
divorcing). Both of these vignettes 
open up scenarios for heartfelt 
child and parent conversation, but 
these moments come off as forced 
and easily-fixable. In a sitcom with 
the premise of illustrating tried 
and true familial adversity, would 
it really be that hard to showcase 
some authenticity?

The only real redeeming quality 

to “Life in Pieces” is its star-
studded roster of talent, which 
shows up to play no matter what 
uninspiring tropes and worn-out 
plot lines they are constrained to. 
The cast carries the series on its 
shoulders; it’s just regrettable that 
we only see so little of them in such 
fast-paced episodes. If you blink, 
you might miss Hanks masterfully 
throw some side-eye after a 
witty remark or James Brolin 
(“Westworld”), as family patriarch 
John, curmudgeonly react to his 
family’s bizarre antics. And if you 
miss that, you’ve essentially missed 
all the entertainment.

After enduring two seasons of 

similar dissatisfaction and yearning 
for originality, I unfortunately 
came to expect this lackluster of 
a “Life in Pieces” premiere. After 
all, the title slide reads: “One big 
family. Four short stories. Every 
week.” And if that doesn’t sound 
like the basis of every sitcom ever, 
then you’re likely still stuck on 
creator Justin Adler’s bandwagon 
— believing in the unforeseen 
potential of this imitated, insipid 
comedy.

MORGAN RUBINO

For the Daily

TV REVIEW

COMMUNITY CULTURE PREVIEW
UMS brings Chanticleer 

This 
Friday, 
the 
Grammy 

award-winning group Chanticleer 
will perform “Heart of a Soldier” 
at Hill Auditorium. Chanticleer 
blends 12 male voices to create an 
“orchestra of voices.” The group 
performs interpretations of vocal 
literature 
and 
contemporary 

compositions.

The show tells stories about 

soldiering by traveling through 
history through music, looking at 
music by William Byrd about the 
Babylonian Captivity and the fall 
of Jerusalem, and by Janequin 
about the Battle of Marignano. It 
also looks at popular pieces from 
the world wars and ending with 
a reminder of peace with music 
composed by artists such as John 
Musto.

“This 
concert 
is 
slightly 

different from what might be 
called 
a 
‘typical 
Chanticleer 

show,’” 
wrote 
Chanticleer 

Music Director, William Scott, 
in an interview with The Daily. 
“Those shows started with very 
early music, perhaps Gregorian 
chant, and ended with some 
combination of Gershwin and 
African-American spirituals. This 
program, on the other hand, ends 
with a message about peace that 
is not only timely but, we hope 
elegant and moving.”

Chanticleer does not stop at 

just the music. Instead, the group 
also displays the emotional and 
theatrical realms of soldiering. 
From loss to betrayal to rage to 
hope, there is an intense range for 
the soldiers they portray.

“It is a program of lights and 

shadows, happiness as well as 
sadness, fast music and slow, in a 
variety of languages and styles, 
with giddy sound effects alongside 
poignant reminders of how much 
better peace is, after all,” Scott 

wrote.

In 
doing 
so, 
Chanticleer 

encompasses 
the 
entire 

experience of being a soldier 
with grace, touching its audience 
members in the process. They are 
coming to the University as a part 
of Veterans Week.

“We have had many veterans 

come up to us with tears in their 
eyes, thanking us for the way 
the program seems to point out 
the ennobling contribution of 
soldiers to our country’s (and any 

country’s) past,” Scott wrote.

Scott noted how gratifying it 

is to have touched people in such 
a way. He also wrote that many 
people especially enjoy singing 
along in pleasure to the pop songs 
“My Buddy,” “Boogie-Woogie-
Bugle-Boy” and “Where Have All 
the Flowers Gone.”

“As always, music touches 

people in a visceral and sometimes 
vulnerable spot,” Scott wrote. 
“I hope we sing the program 
convincingly, in tune, with good 
diction and style and that the 
audience will feel that they have 
enjoyed going on this musical 
journey with us.”

The U-M Glee Club will also 

make a cameo appearance in the 
performance. Scott noted that 
one of his favorite moments will 
definitely be when the Glee Club’s 
singers join in singing Jennifer 
Higdon’s touching “Our Beautiful 
Country.”

Chanticleer began discussing 

the concept because the duality 
between history and emotions 
seemed 
interesting. 
They 

received exciting responses from 
composers 
Mason 
Bates 
and 

Musto and moved on to create the 
compelling program that is now 
“Heart of a Soldier.”

“What we hadn’t known at 

the time we started planning this 
program was the incredible need 
to remind ourselves of the siren 
call of peace that so needs to be 
heard right now.”

NITYA GUPTA
Daily Arts Writer

MAX MICHALSKY

For the Daily

“Life in Pieces” 

Season 3 Premiere

Thursdays at 9:30 

p.m.

CBS

WARNER BROS

Guy RItchie.

FILM REAPPRAISAL

 Chanticleer’s 

“Heart of a 

Soldier” 

Hill Auditorium 

Friday November 

10th @ 8 P.M.

$12-56

