Film Review: THE NIGHT AGENT

One thing about law-enforcing bodies is that they aren't always perfect. Or, rather, there are individuals who do not always do things in alignment with the law. One way or another, there is always some shady business going on in government organizations. And, oftentimes, the collateral damage falls on the innocent when shit hits the fan.

A lot of things happen in our government here—a lot of shady things that we can see their trails but can't quite paint the full picture. And then the same government tries to cover it up, but something bad or wrong must have happened to someone somewhere.

Someone is doing something shady in this film, but everything is all too messy, and this one guy just had to be in the wrong place at the wrong time to be caught up in the middle of it all. But this happenstance seems to be the channel for the big reveals, even for this one guy.

The Plot

Peter Sutherland, an FBI agent, finds a bomb from in a train and immediately starts an evacuation. He saves lives, and thereafter was promoted to serve in the Whitehouse—as a bunker call receptionist for agents in a secret programme called the Night Action.

He receives a call one night from a Rose Larkin reporting on behalf of her parents in the Night Action program for an infiltration of assassins in their homes. Things start to change from there as the same incident is somehow tied to the train bombing from a while ago.

Apparently, there is a traitor in the US national security and is behind these unfortunate happenings. Peter, unfortunately, has the world believing he is behind the terrorist attack as his father had was a convicted traitor.

There was hype about this series when I heard about it. The title gave me the impression it would be about some spies—as it does sound much like that—but the trailer debunked that idea right away. Well, in a way, spies were involved, but not in the way I imagined. What I was kind of hoping to see was some James Bond stuff.

The film covers things from the inside perspective of the US Secret Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I am not sure how accurate many of the things they portray really are, but it was mostly interesting to see things from that perspective.

The first episode of a series matters so much, and this series did have a gripping first episode that set a good pace for a potentially worthwhile journey through its story. I liked that and felt that I was in for a treat.

Things started to drag a bit shortly afterwards, and some things didn't add up. Considering that the film was supposed to be about the top security agencies in the nation, it does sound "off" to hear that something happened to someone at the top and absolutely nothing could be presented. But I get it; it is to intrigue its audience.

Something bad happened, and it was all supposed to be buried quickly, but then it started to unfold that someone important was behind it—that there is a mole somewhere. Naturally, one would expect this film to be about, you know, figuring out who this person or group of people may be. That's normal. But then it started to feel like a bland story when that was the main and only focus, until a while later when more interesting characters and sub-stories were introduced.

"It was about time," I said to myself—when there was this new character, Maddie. From there on, things started to pick up again, and it started to feel a lot less like some "catch the bad guy" kind of show. Instead, there was a more real-life touch to the story. You know, something like bickerings between father and daughter being connected to some case and, boom, someone's dead. That kind of thing. There was now something else to catch on to to keep the film alive.

Something, however, that I felt was lacking in this film was humor. Surely, I do not expect that much of it in this type of film, but come on, it sure would have helped to make it more engaging and entertaining. Subtle implementations of comic scenes and dialogue wouldn't have been bad. The film did alright without that, still.

Most of the film was entertaining, but there are subtle truths about reality that are depicted in this film. An example would be that the reputation we have as individuals somehow affects people around us, especially people as close as family. Another would be that trusting people is such a risky game, and how wild things can turn out if the trust is betrayed.

I wouldn't say that this film has the most impressive look when it comes to its camera work and all, but it mostly sufficed. It's mostly action, so it just did alright to deliver its scenes effectively enough to follow along with the story in enjoyment. Nothing dramatic here.

Anyone looking for more depth in story and character development may not necessarily consider this an option. If it's thrills and entertainment, well, they'll get that.

I am not sure what the hupe was about exactly, but yeah, it is a pretty enjoyable film, especially when looking to pass time—like the weekend—and so I could recommend it.