Argylle

Sunday night, Sharon and I watched Argylle on AppleTV+. I had bought the movie several months ago on a whim and downloaded it to my iPad. I had intended to watch it on one of the long flights on the Scandavian or Balkans trips, but never got around to it.

The movie is a 2024 spy action comedy film directed and produced by Matthew Vaughn. It is written by Jason Fuchs.

The film features an ensemble cast that includes Henry Cavill, Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, Bryan Cranston, Catherine O'Hara, Dua Lipa, Ariana DeBose, John Cena, and Samuel L. Jackson. Bryce Dallas Howard is Ron Howard's daugther.

Reclusive author Elly Conway (Howard) writes best-selling espionage novels about a secret agent named Argylle who's on a mission to unravel a global spy syndicate. When the plots of her books start to mirror the covert actions of a real-life spy organization, the line between fiction and reality begin to blur.

I was surprised that Matthew Vaughn had also produced and directed the Kingsman movies. We watched two of the Kingsman movies: Kingsman: Secret Service in 2015; and, Kingsman 2: Golden Circle in 2018. Argylle is supposed to part of the same universe with some eventual crossover. An in-credit scene at the end of the movie hints at a prequel that ties the movies together.

Argylle has a very complicated plot. While I found the movie mildly entertaining, I don't recommend it. Like the Kingsman movies, it jumps the shark in a number of places.