Director Peter Berg
Starring Mark Wahlberg, Winston Duke, Alan Arkin
Rated MA
Score 4.5/6

When two Boston police officers are murdered, ex-cop Spenser teams up with his no-nonsense roommate, Hawk, to take down criminals.

Before we get to far into things Spenser Confidential is very loosely based on the novel Wonderland by Ace Atkins and uses the names of characters created by Robert B. Parker. It should also be noted that before this adaption there has been two TV series Spenser: For Hire and A Man Called Hawk and two completely different film series with the last “Spenser” movie being released in 2001. This also marks the fifth time that Mark Wahlberg has worked with Peter Berg the other times being Lone Survivor, Deepwater Horizon, Patriots Day, and Mile 22.

I went into this based on a Netflix recommendation and completely unaware of the history of the Spenser character. This is pretty much a standard ‘Buddy cop’ (though yes Spenser isn’t a cop) movie and there really isn’t that special about the movie. However, there are a lot of little things that makes Spenser Confidential worth a look. I loved Iliza Shlesinger’s performance in the first movie role that I have seen her in, she was terrifying …. but in a good way. It turns out this is the second movie that she has been cast in with Wahlberg. Mark Wahlberg and Winston Duke made for a great team and then there where the beautiful shots cityscape of Boston. I enjoyed Bokeem Woodbine’s performance his voice has always had what I can only describe as sense of cool. Alan Arkin, well he is always a joy to watch.