Spenser Confidential Review

© by Gerald So | 5:00 AM

Released after a five-year prison stint for assaulting his wife-beating commanding officer, Spenser (Mark Wahlberg) plans to become a trucker and leave Boston for Arizona. The day after Spenser's release, though, said abusive captain is killed. Then a police academy friend is found in a suspicious suicide, drawing Spenser to investigate on his own.

None of the above setup is from Robert B. Parker's books or Ace Atkins' continuations, but I was ready for that, having followed Spenser Confidential news all through development. As a writer and a viewer, I'm open to creative license in an adaptation. Despite the changes to Spenser's backstory, I saw enough of his core character to enjoy the movie throughout.

I also think, though the supporting characters are almost all different from Ace Atkins' Wonderland, enough of the book's elements remain that the movie title didn't have to change to Spenser Confidential.

It's not the madcap, messy action-comedy I feared. Like a good Spenser book, it dashes some humor on hard-boiled morality play. Its exposition is well handled. Its fight scenes are on point. For fans of the Spenser books, if you're as open to here-and-there changes as I was, you'll appreciate it as I did. If not, it's not for you. For newcomers to Spenser, I think the background the movie gives him is appealing enough. Just know it's not his background in the books.