Guy Ritchie is probably best known for his collaborations with Jason Statham, but I apparently have a stronger affinity for his work with Henry Cavill. Exhibit A is my love for The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, the 2024 new movie that I gave a rave review. Exhibit B is my excitement watching The Man from U.N.C.L.E. now that it is on Netflix.
Based on the TV series of the same name from the 1960s, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. sees Cavill play a CIA agent during the 1960s who is forced to team up with a KGB agent (played by Armie Hammer) and the daughter of a German scientist (Alicia Vikander) in order to stop a criminal organization with eyes on claiming a nuclear weapon of their very own. Elizabeth Debecki, Hugh Grant, Luca Calvani and Jared Harris also star.
Critical reception on The Man From U.N.C.L.E. was alright (it is "Fresh" at 68% on Rotten Tomatoes) but the movie was a dud at the box office, making just $45 million in the US and $110 million worldwide on a $70 million budget. This is really unfortunate because The Man from U.N.C.L.E. really is one of Ritchie's best works.
While many Ritchie fans fell in love with his rough & tumble, frenetic style he showed in movies like Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. showed that he could pull off suave. Cavill is as cool as he ever has been in the movie as the Bond-like Solo (this may be the closest that either Cavill or Ritchie ever gets to being a part of a Bond movie), and the action is more finesse and occasionally understated than previous Ritchie entries. I particularly enjoy a scene where Cavill's Solo eats a sandwich as Hammer's KGB agent takes part in an elaborate chase.
I'm not the only one who thinks The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is underrated. Rolling Stone included the movie in its list of 50 best action movies of all time.
Beyond the action, Vikander is in top form at the height of her stardom; Hugh Grant is fun as the spies’ witty point of contact; Elizabeth Debecki is sexy and dangerous as the villainous head of the criminal organization; and it all builds to a thrilling final act.
Netflix subscribers have been rediscovering The Man from U.N.C.L.E. too, as the movie has landed in the top 10 movies of Netflix's daily streaming rankings in the US after landing on the streamer on July 27 (it is not available to stream in the UK, only available via digital on-demand).
Would it have been nice for The Man from U.N.C.L.E. to have performed better when it first landed in movie theaters? Of course. But there's something about loving a movie and seeing it gain greater appreciation from others as the years go by. And even though there was hope of creating a new franchise with the movie (there are rumors a long-delayed sequel could be in the works) The Man from U.N.C.L.E. works as a one-off.
So, if you've long been in the camp that The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is a hidden gem or you want to discover/rediscover the movie with fresh eyes, you can do so right now by watching the movie on Netflix.
