First things first: if you’re expecting something from “U.N.C.L.E.” via Ian Fleming then you are probably going to be disappointed. This isn’t that kind of drama. Instead, it follows three characters portrayed by Wagner Moura who have to navigate a series of political intrigues that begin in 1970s Brazil. Academic “Marcelo” (aka “Armando”) has arrived in his home city of Recife under some sort of cloak of secrecy; is being shielded by the wily “Dona Sebastiana” (a scene-stealing Tânia Maria) and some other citizens more inclined to freedom and is soon searching the local files for information regarding his late mother. As the plot evolves, we discover that he was formerly a university scientist whose career was kiboshed by a corrupt industrialist quite happy to steal ideas amidst a state where the rights of the individual were clearly second to a state run by a phalanx of corrupt police officers, or meagrely paid hitmen. Right from the start we are presented with symbolism of that, of extortion and bribery and of a society where the Cruzeiro is king and that theme prevails through what is essentially a three act play. The object of this isn’t always clear, and just when I thought I was making some headway it veered off on tangents. There is a sub-plot regarding his new, fleeing, house-mates; another more focussed on his son and cinema-owning father-in-law and there are also frequent interventions from two women who are transcribing tape recordings of conversations either featuring or about one of Moura’s characters. Who are these latter women? Well that ambiguity survives the film and it didn’t help keep the focus taught as the pace takes quite a dip towards the closing (second) phase of his escapades. There are aspects of the quite subliminally menacing throughout this critique on a society largely afraid of it’s own government, or certainly of doing anything about it, and although the ending of the film and the ending of the principal thrust of the plot don’t happen at quite the same time, there are no signs of any happy endings as the plotting and counter-plotting are given a distinctly human face. Though it is probably half an hour too long, it does merit a second watch as I found it made more sense once I’d established the initial ground rules and characterisations and could concentrate more on a quite cleverly woven and internecine story.