The Man from U.N.C.L.E. | DVD review - Guy Ritchie’s slick and stylish reboot | Movie Talk | What's on TV

(Image credit: Daniel Smith)

Guy Ritchie gives the iconic 1960s TV series The Man from U.N.C.L.E. a slick and stylish reboot, delivering a breezy mix of spy caper and buddy movie, a deliciously old-fashioned romp brimming with retro chic, and with a champagne cocktail’s effervescent fizz.

Set in 1963 against a backdrop of Cold War suspicion and jet-set cool, the film finds the TV show’s mismatched espionage duo - suave CIA operative Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill) and scowling KGB agent Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer) – reluctantly joining forces to thwart an international gang of nuclear-bomb wielding baddies with the aid of Alicia Vikander’s East German car mechanic.

Despite the high stakes, Ritchie and his cast – including icy villain Elizabeth Debicki and a very droll Hugh Grant - play it cool. Cavill and Hammer’s chalk-and-cheese chemistry is a delight and the larky thrills and spills are enormous fun.

Certificate 12. Runtime 112 mins. Director Guy Ritchie

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is available on Digital HD, Blu-ray & DVD from Warner Home Video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4E9TyrOFlQ

A film critic for over 25 years, Jason admits the job can occasionally be glamorous – sitting on a film festival jury in Portugal; hanging out with Baz Luhrmann at the Chateau Marmont; chatting with Sigourney Weaver about The Archers – but he mostly spends his time in darkened rooms watching films. He’s also written theatre and opera reviews, two guide books on Rome, and competed in a race for Yachting World, whose great wheeze it was to send a seasick film critic to write about his time on the ocean waves. But Jason is happiest on dry land with a classic screwball comedy or Hitchcock thriller.