High school sweethearts become super spies in the action comedy “The Union,” starring Mark Wahlberg and Halle Berry and premiering on Netflix Aug. 16.
The film follows Roxanne (Berry), who reunites with her ex-boyfriend Mike (Wahlberg) at a bar and sweeps him off his feet, only to tranquilize him and transport him from New Jersey to London.
After a list containing the identities of every U.S. spy was stolen, Roxanne recruits Mike, “a nobody,” to retrieve it. When Mike asks Roxanne and her boss (J.K. Simmons) if they work for the FBI, she responds, “We work for The Union.”
Soon, Mike is being trained by his ex-flame, sprinting atop London buildings, shooting at targets and protecting a briefcase while he’s chased across Europe. (Wahlberg described his character, a construction worker from New Jersey, as a “blue-collar James Bond.)
“Piece of cake,” Simmons says in the trailer. “I mean, unless, you know, it isn’t.”
As Mike and Roxanne work together on this high-stakes mission, it’s clear that there is still a spark between them.
“I’m glad it’s you and me,” Roxanne tells her ex-boyfriend. “And I’m really glad I walked back into that bar.”
“The Union” is directed by Julian Farino and written by Joe Barton and David Guggenheim. The cast also features Mike Colter, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Jessica De Gouw, Alice Lee and Jackie Earle Haley.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Wahlberg said working with Berry on “The Union” was “an absolute joy.” “I’ve always been a huge fan of her and an admirer of her work,” he said. “Doing anything with Halle is very easy but also an absolute joy. Pretty much any guy or gal would do anything to win her over, so it was certainly easy when it came to me basically following her like a puppy.”
