Black Bag

Both Soderbergh and Koepp understand the mechanics of genre inside out; they also know that those mechanics, given a proper greasing and a burst of inspiration, can still yield richly pleasurable dividends.

At a silkily dispatched hour and a half, Black Bag is perfectly portioned and entertaining as all get-out.

OK, Steven Soderbergh's sleek, sexy spy thriller can be too cool for school. But oh the twisted, erotic mischief dished out by dynamos Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbinder as married spies, still hot for each other but worried that the other is a traitor

Sleek, witty and lean to the bone, a fizzy, engaging puzzler about beautiful spies doing the sort of extraordinary things that the rest of us only read about in novels and - if we're lucky - watch onscreen.

Spy games are merely a bit of lingerie tarting up a story about trust. Call it "sex, lies & videotape & guns" - and a sign that Soderbergh doesn't have faith in today's audiences to be interested in that kind of thing unless someone might get shot

Clean and minimalist, "Black Bag" is a posh, high-minded spy romp.

This is a movie made by and starring artists who clearly love the genre, and aside from the technology, one could see this playing in theaters and pleasing crowds in the 1970s.

"Black Bag," Steven Soderbergh's outstanding new film, is sleek, cool, polished, smart, smooth - if Soderbergh were a thief, he'd leave no fingerprints.

A svelte piece of entertainment that feels like a vintage yarn yet very much represents our own current anxieties, questions of sustaining trust in relationships and high-stake careers.

The mystery builds to a wildly perverse yet suitably sincere conclusion that knocked my socks off. However, to say more than that would spoil all of the fun.

Movie-watching at its finest, in that its wealth of espionage intrigue is bound to be as enjoyable on a plane or on that comfy couch as it is in the theater. Just make no mistake: This is the most delightful moviegoing experience you can have this year.

a delightful romantic spy drama that cannot be missed.

Mr. Koepp and Mr. Soderbergh remind us of one advantage that remains with features: the ability to bring a story to a rapid and satisfying ending. Lasting 93 minutes instead of 93 episodes, Black Bag snaps closed with a rewarding click.

This is a matter of complementary craft; of two great listeners and communicators bringing rapture to every gesture.

It's all a parlor trick, hardly John le Carre's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, but Black Bag carries its swagger lightly, entertaining in its deceptive simplicity.

Taut yet thoroughly laced with levity, "Black Bag" plays like the filmic equivalent of a skillfully executed espionage mission in how tight and exact it feels.

The cast of luminaries lend the thinly sketched characters distinctive personalities, but the real star is the technology of spycraft: Soderbergh grimly delights in exposing its eerie powers and potentially devastating uses.

Although Soderbergh's approach has an artfulness to it; he's telling a sweeping story while keeping the excitement mostly confined. The result, while self-contained, is gripping, quietly sexy, and robustly acted.

Like Presence, it's an interesting genre exercise.

Soderbergh handles ensemble casts well, forming a constellation rather than centering any single person as a lodestar.