This film by Matthew Vaughn is close but no cigar. The premise of Argylle appears to involve a captivating sense of an adventure. Somehow the movie falls off topic and does not deliver to the extent that its audience expects. The film opens with an author imagining her book franchise’s main character like a movie. The author is Elly Conway, and she is played by Bryce Dallas Howard. The character she creates, Argylle is played by Henry Cavill. The story is about an accomplished author who cannot figure out a cliffhanger. The writing about the adventure she embarks upon is inconsistent throughout Argylle.

The plot focuses on Elly wanting her next Argylle novel to have a perfect conclusion. She is struggling with ideas, so her mother Ruth, played by Catherine O’Hara, encourages her to take a trip. Elly gets on a train, and then realizes that there are henchmen after her. The man who saves her is Aidan, played by Sam Rockwell. Elly’s experience makes her feel like she is in her own story, a perilous adventure that she created is nowhappening right in front of her. Aidan must guide Elly on her journey and protect her from the many underground enemies that are after her. It is a film full of misdirection where the concept and the title both cause some confusion about the author and the target. Is what is happening around Elly real? Is Argyllereal? The movie creates a world where the cliffhangers lead to many tangents and colorful espionage abounds. Overall, it is a true Vaughn adventure.

Argylle is two-sided adventure in which the blurred lines do not fade as the story progresses. The suspense takes its audience to France, London, Chicago, and Colorado in an unconventional thriller with a healthy blend of diversity. Despite its strange misdirection, the movie remains exhilarating. Argylle goes into the shadowy depths with interesting discoveries. The enemy is Ritter, played by Bryan Cranston. His role causes the espionage tends to grow. The film then jumps to yet another questionable character, Alfred Solomon, played by Samuel L. Jackson. As these dangerous characters impact Elly’s safety, her writer’s block seems to unfold in mysterious ways. There are more realizations about her personal life and more background revealed about the various theories surrounding her Argylle novels.

Even though the film tends to jump around all over the place, the performances of Bryce Dallas Howard and Sam Rockwell made watching this film a real blast. Argylle is a unique experience from the creative mind of Matthew Vaughn. The story of an author having to deal with suspenseful scenarios is where the curiosities unfold in Argylle. While the film’s writing shifts gears too frequently for my taste, the storyline and overall experience still sells.

In the end, Argylle is a bumpy ride of misconception and deceit. It is also full of weird tendencies and strange behaviors duringtense moments. Argylle is not that great overall, but its creative direction is still invigorating. Two-and-a-half out of four stars for Argylle.