The 355

Starring: Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong'o, Diane Kruger, Pen elope Cruz, Bingbing Fan, Sebastian Stan, Jason Flemyng, Edgar Ramirez

Director: Simon Kinberg

While on a mission in Columbia, Luis (Ramirez) stops crime boss Clarke (Flemyng) from purchasing a device that will give him access to and control over computer networks across the world. CIA agents Mace (Chastain) and Nick (Stan) who are tasked with brokering a deal with Luis to acquire the device. The deal is interrupted by Marie (Kruger), a German operative whose government also wants the device, and results in Nick being killed. Mace brings on her friend and cyber expert Khadijah (Nyong'o) to find Luis and get the drive and soon she finds herself an enemy of the state and main suspect in not only Nick's death, but also as the one who stole the drive. She and Khadijah decide to team up with Marie and psychologist Graciela (Cruz), who was close to Luis, to clear her name and stop the device from falling into the wrong hands.

January is a notorious dumping ground for studios looking to offload bad movies. While this has somewhat shifted over the past few years, there was an uphill battle facing this movie and expectations are more than likely set on very low.

To my surprise, I had a good time watching this despite its flaws. Neither the plot nor the action breaks the mold in any way and some of the plot twists are telegraphed very early on. Luckily, the movie is still entertaining and I enjoyed following the talented actresses on their globe trotting antics.

The movie does have an odd structure, as Kruger begins as a possible antagonist in the film as she actively works against Mace and Khadijah. Throwing Cruz's Graciela into the mix as well as a super late addition of Bingbing Fan has the movie working in fits and starts.

The cast is strong, with Chastain, Kruger, and Nyong'o getting a lot of the heavy lifting. This project started because of Chastain, who also produced, and her commitment to making this a success can't be denied. While Kruger and Nyong'o feature heavily into the film, their characters are underdeveloped. Some late plot machinations give them a chance to really step out and bring something unique to the proceedings but the movie curiously, and maybe more-so disappointingly, doesn't go there. While it is fun to see talented actors like Edgar Ramirez and Sebastian Stan mixed up in the plot, their roles are smaller and don't really stand out.

The actress who is let down by the material the most is Penelope Cruz. Cruz is an incredibly talented actress but Graciela isn't actually a spy, but a therapist and stays out of any of the action mayhem. This just leaves her to play afraid and frightened and doesn't really give Cruz anything to sink her teeth into. Maybe I am biased because I had watched her in Almodovar's brilliant Parallel Mothers the night before and the step down in role quality was too evident for me.

While not anything to write home about, this is still a fun, if uneven, actioner.

Grade: B-