Peter Berg and Mark Walhberg delivers another turd after Mile 22, similar to 6 Underground earlier you can see that this was made only to get a quick paycheck. While there is a coherence the film fails to build any real suspense and any real reason for Spenser's motivations. The reason for mob fearing Spenser is absent as well. The mid-film reveal which was supposed to inject (much needed) energy lands with a thud and then the final action starts which is completely uninspired. I don't understand the need for Walhberg and Berg's need to show a regular guy but this was a cop movie without the central being a cop. Walhberg still is good and the movie is pretty to look at, plus the action scenes are staged well as you would expect from a Berg movie.

I enjoyed it. Sure it's nothing super memorable, but compared to Mile 22 I thought it was at least somewhat of an improvement. It's a shame to see that Berg still hasn't gotten back into his groove though and delivered films on par with Lone Survivor or Deepwater Horizon, but this was still pretty decent. I really enjoyed the dynamic between Wahlberg, Duke and Arkin, but the villian stuff was weak sauce and it sucks how much Bokeem Woodbine was wasted in this.

B-

I kinda love Spenser Confidential. After a decade of making movies about how awesome the military, police and other service members are, Berg now decides that it's up to a couple bumbling rogue tough guys and gals to find justice for the innocent in a world full of corrupt cops. It’s bad boys without the badges, plus Beverly Hills Cop hopped up on red bull and/or cocaine.

The Flava'd Algorithm checklist

Looks glorious on my 4k tv
Our hero beats up Post Malone in the opening scene
Mark Wahlberg fights a dog and loses
Winston Duke throws a hammer off a bridge through a bad guy's windshield
Bokeem Woodbine, Marc Meron and Alan Arkin are supporting players
Restaurant sex
There are a lot of nice dogs too

Fun movie start to finish.