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Spenser Confidential

Content Caution

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Kristin Smith

Movie Review

Spenser wasn’t meant for prison, but that’s where he’s spent the last five years of his life.

Locked up on charges of aggravated assault against his own police chief, Capt. Boylan, Spenser is finally free to move on from the streets of Boston.

Well, sort of.

He’s not particularly sorry for what he did; after all, his police chief was a corrupt cop known for drinking too much and beating his wife. Really, Spenser feels like he did the right thing, even though it led to the slammer. But his former law enforcement “buddies” don’t agree. In fact, they want Spenser out of Massachusetts as fast as possible.

And Spenser feels that pressure, especially after he hears that Captain Boylan was murdered on the same day he was released from jail.

Coincidence? Not a chance. Why would someone want Boylan dead? What could he have been linked to? And can Spenser actually move on, or is his need to seek justice again just a little too strong?   

Positive Elements

For all of his many flaws, Spenser can’t seem to let injustice go unnoticed. Throughout the film he is a fierce defender of the innocent and always looks to avenge those who have been abused or defamed.

Hawk, Spenser’s partner, is slower to anger than Spenser and often thinks through his actions. He also has a kind and gentle spirit.

Henry, Spenser’s elderly friend and pseudo mentor, tries to encourage Spenser to forget about his past and move on with his life (although his words fall on deaf ears).

Spiritual Elements

A funereal is held at a church. Both a woman and man wear cross necklaces.

Sexual Content

Spenser and his ex-girlfriend have sex in the bathroom of a restaurant. (We see graphic movements as the two talk about orgasms. We also hear plenty of sounds which cause other customers to leave the store.) Afterward, Spenser zips up his pants and his girlfriend adjusts her dress.

Spenser makes a crude reference to oral sex and the size of a man’s genitals. Hawk flirts with a man’s wife to try and get her to divulge valuable information. An elderly man is asked if he’s been sexually assaulted. Men go shirtless at home and in a boxing ring. A woman wears a cleavage-baring top.

Violent Content

Spenser confronts a police chief when he learns the chief covered up a murder. When he arrives at his house, he finds the chief’s wife covered in bruises after a beating. Spenser then drags the chief into his front yard and punches him until he begins to bleed.

The day Spenser is released from prison for aggravated assault, the same police chief is brutally murdered. The news calls it an “execution style” murder, and we see a flashback of the chief hit by a car, dragged out and eventually, we hear, murdered with a machete.

Spenser and Hawk avoid multiple death threats and attempts on their lives. They also shoot their fair share of people. Numerous fight scenes show men engaging in hand-to-hand combat, punching, kicking and maiming one another as blood often flies in all directions. Spenser gets stabbed with a shank in prison and later attacked by a vicious dog. Spenser waterboards a drug dealer until he divulges information. An ex-con is accused of manslaughter.

A police officer is murdered, and we see his dead body lying in a car, covered in blood. A young woman is beaten and later found dead in a trunk, covered in blood. Earlier, that same woman finds her cat nailed to her door.

Spenser’s ex-girlfriend throws all his belongings out of her home in anger and, later, pushes him around when she learns he’s been released from prison without telling her.

Crude or Profane Language

Jesus’ name is misused nearly 10 times, and God’s name is misused five times. The f-word is heard nearly 100 times and the s-word is heard nearly 40 times. Other profanity includes multiple utterances each of “h—,” “a–,” “d–n,” “son of a b–ch,” “b–ch” and “a–hole.” We also hear multiple crude slang terms for the male anatomy.

Drug and Alcohol Content

Corrupt cops collaborate with a drug syndicate throughout the film. Spenser and Hawk uncover pounds of fentanyl, cocaine and oxycodone. Similarly, the pair discovers that law enforcement has been using drug money to build an empire.

A police officer is framed as a drug dealer, and drugs are planted in his home. Men and women consume beer, hard liquor and wine, once at a bar. A cop is accused of being drunk.

Other Negative Elements

Corrupt law enforcement threatens to take a young boy away from his mother when she refuses to cooperate. Later, the same corrupt officers invade and trash her apartment.

Other police officers lie, cheat, steal and illegally work the system in their favor. Hawk slashes a drug dealer’s tires and scratches his car.

Conclusion

Mark Wahlberg stalking the streets of Boston, sporting his accent, a stream of profanity and beating up bad guys? Check. Drug dealers, corrupt law officials and a need for justice? Check, check and check.

Netflix’s original Spenser Confidential is built on a rote storyline with all the action-packed punches you’d expect. And if the characters’ names here ring a distant bell, that’s because Spenser has a long history in Robert B. Parker’s novels and in the 1980s PI series Spenser: For Hire.

Violence is front and center here as no one steps away from a tussle or beating, language is quite heavy and there’s even some unnecessary sexual content.

Mix that all together and you’ve got a movie you might have seen before, just with a different title.

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Kristin Smith

Kristin Smith joined the Plugged In team in 2017. Formerly a Spanish and English teacher, Kristin loves reading literature and eating authentic Mexican tacos. She and her husband, Eddy, love raising their children Judah and Selah. Kristin also has a deep affection for coffee, music, her dog (Cali) and cat (Aslan).