A clever blend of espionage, marital intrigue

THAT three-star rating for the new Steven Soderbergh movie Black Bag is a matter of personal preference.

- TY BURR

Kick it up by half a star if your tastes run to John le Carré espionage thrillers crossed with marital cage matches like Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Dock it the same amount if you don’t like talky, complex, fiendishly intelligent head games.

Me? I’ll split it, while also recognising that this is the latest effortless Soderbergh miniature, acted by a game and glittering cast while never breaking a sweat. It’s good, brainy fun but I do miss the days when this director sweated a bit more.

After an amuse-bouche of an opening scene, Black Bag settles into a dinner party at which the stakes are discreetly high. Our chef is George Woodhouse (Michael Fassbender), a British intelligence agent with the best poker face in the business and what appears to be a loving marriage to Kathryn St. Jean (Cate Blanchett). She’s a glamorous and legendary field operative, while George is just as legendary for his slightly scary, slightly on-the-spectrum gift for three-dimensional chess. He’s also a fantastic cook, and his and Kathryn’s four guests all co-workers are looking nervously forward to the meal. What else is on the menu?