Quentin Tarantino Slams Guy Ritchie’s The Man from UNCLE for Its Confusing Plot
Quentin Tarantino praised the start of Guy Ritchie's The Man from UNCLE, but the film's tangled plot left him baffled by the end. The director admitted he lost interest halfway through, criticizing the movie's overly complex story.
It ’s not uncommon for a film to kick off with a bang, only to lose its way as the story unfolds. That’s exactly what happened for Quentin Tarantino when he sat down to watch a high-profile action flick he once considered directing himself. While Tarantino is known for delivering unforgettable finales in his own movies, he found himself completely lost during the second half of Guy Ritchie’s The Man from UNCLE.
From the explosive ending of Reservoir Dogs to the wild shootouts in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Tarantino’s films rarely fizzle out. He’s a master at keeping viewers hooked until the credits roll. Unfortunately, he feels that many big studio productions don’t stick the landing, especially those packed with special effects and spectacle. For Tarantino, it’s not just about the visuals—it’s about keeping the story tight and engaging all the way through.
When the Plot Gets Too Complicated
If you’ve ever tried to recall the storyline of The Man from UNCLE, you’re not alone if you come up blank. The movie, which struggled at the box office and never got the sequel it was clearly setting up, is a whirlwind of espionage tropes. There’s a shadowy criminal group, nuclear threats, CIA and KGB agents, a missing scientist’s daughter, a Nazi sympathizer’s niece, a mysterious watch, an undercover MI6 operative, a secret island base, a crucial data disc, and more double-crosses than you can count. It’s no wonder the plot is hard to follow.
Tarantino admitted he was enjoying himself at first, but the tangled narrative soon left him scratching his head.
“The first half was really funny and terrific,”
he said.
“But in the whole second half, I’m like, ‘Oh, wait a minute, were we supposed to care about the bomb? What the fuck is going on here? I was supposed to pay attention to the stupid story?’”
For a filmmaker who almost took on the project himself, it was a frustrating experience.
A Missed Opportunity for a Classic Spy Adventure
Tarantino once considered making his own version of The Man from UNCLE, telling the Village Voice he’d “flirted with the idea of a Man from UNCLE movie,” but eventually moved on. Ritchie, on the other hand, stuck with it, joining a long list of directors and writers who tried to bring the 1960s TV series to the big screen. At one point, Steven Soderbergh nearly got the project off the ground with a script by Scott Z Burns, Emily Blunt as the female lead, and George Clooney in talks to play Napoleon Solo. But that version never materialized.
Despite a few standout performances—Hugh Grant, in particular, makes the most of his limited screen time—the film never quite delivers the memorable spy thriller experience it promises. For a movie buff like Tarantino, it was surprising to realize he actually needed to pay close attention just to keep up with what was happening on screen.