Blackbird review: Michael Flatley is found wanting in clichéd and wildly improbable spy thriller
Blackbird starring Michael Flatley. Picture: Brian Doherty
★★☆☆☆
Michael Flatley isn’t the first dancer to direct himself in a movie – Gene Kelly is probably the best known of that rare breed – and probably won’t be the last, even if Blackbird (15A), Flatley’s new spy thriller, is unlikely to start a stampede of Hollywood producers determined to have a dancer-director helm their next project.
Flatley stars as Victor Blackley, who appears to be a blend of James Bond and Rick Blaine: once a force to be reckoned with in ‘the Agency’, Victor is now ‘a washed-up secret agent’ who only dons a tuxedo when pressing the flesh as the owner of an upmarket nightclub in the Caribbean.
His idyllic existence of wine, women and song is shattered, however, when the notorious arms dealer Blake Molyneaux (Eric Roberts) shows up with Victor’s old flame Vivian (Nicole Evans) on his arm, which is when Victor’s friend Nick (Ian Beattie) urges him to come out of retirement and do the right thing by taking Blake off the board.
So far, so Casablanca, and Flatley is perfectly fine as a genial retiree whose mantra is “I’m not the man I used to be.”
It’s when the dramatic stakes are upped, however, and Victor does try to be the man he used to be, that Flatley is found wanting as an actor. In this he’s not alone: Eric Roberts is a splendidly slimy villain, and Lara Lemon is strong in a minor role, but otherwise the standard of acting is poor.
The dialogue leaves quite a bit to be desired too (“We used to stop the bad guys, not marry them!”), while the movie’s second half – the script was also written by Flatley – manages to be both clichéd and wildly improbable.
The Caribbean setting is glorious, of course, and cameraman Luke Palmer contributes some ravishing sunsets, but for the most part Blackbird will leave you rather more shaken than stirred.
