In The Land Of Saints And Sinners

I’d heard and read many wonderful things about this film, and I was not in the least disappointed when I finally streamed it. In a nutshell, the story is set in Ireland and opens with a heart-stopping sequence in which three children are killed when a car bomb blows up outside a local tavern. Meanwhile, Finbar Murphy, played very low-key by Liam Neeson, is a contract killer living in a remote coastal village who wants to retire but is forced back into vigilante justice when the IRA bombers hole up nearby. Despite the intricate plot and characters studies, Neeson owns this film as he reflects on violence, revenge, life, and love. Unlike some of his more recent action movies, Saints/Sinners examines the brutal nature of violence, eye-for-an-eye retribution, and the pointless cause and effects of war. BunzelScore: 4/5

Blitz

This 2011 British action thriller film directed by Elliott Lester and based on the novel of the same name by Ken Bruen, features recurring characters Detective Sergeant Tom Brant and Chief Inspector James Roberts. The plot: A serial killer is targeting police officers in South East London. After two police constables are shot dead and Chief Inspector Bruce Roberts is bludgeoned to death, the hunt for the killer's identity begins. Sergeant Porter Nash [Paddy Considine] heads up the investigation, even though he's an outsider and widely ridiculed by his fellow officers for being openly gay. He finds an unlikely ally in the hot-headed Detective Tom Brant [Jason Statham], who has a history of violent incidents. While at some times it can hardly get out of its own way, ultimately it’s a fun ride with fast-paced action, smart dialogue, and gritty characters, all melded into a story of societal dissociation and moral ambiguity. BunzelScore: 3.5/5

The Hard Way

I’d intended to watch this movie ever since Facebook continuously fed me a clip of the opening bar brawl, which essentially is a gratuitous scene contrived to introduce the audience to the martial arts skills of star Michael Jai White. It’s a smart, entertaining scene that I hoped would carry over through the next two hours but, unfortunately, the storyline devolves from there. The plot: After learning his brother died on a mission in Romania, former soldier named Payne [White] teams up with two allies to hunt down a mysterious enemy and exact revenge. Not a bad premise, but—as with many action pictures—director Keoni Waxman is more focused on the beatdowns and knife fights than logic and rationale [which, admittedly, is not why one watches this genre of film in the first place]. While I wasn’t left feeling disappointed, The Hard Way was just too thin and predictable, including the supposed “great twist” at the end. BunzelScore: 3/5

The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

Based on the 1964 television series of the same name, this 2015 film reimagined by Sam Rolfe and directed by Guy Ritchie really, really wanted to be so much more than it is. Set against the backdrop of the early 1960s period of the Cold War, the story centers on U.N.C.L.E. agents Napoleon Solo [Henry Cavill] and Illya Kuryakin [Armie Hammer] as they team up on a joint mission to stop an international criminal organization that’s intent on destabilizing the fragile balance of power through the proliferation of nuclear weapons and technology. The duo’s only lead is the daughter of a vanished German scientist, who is the key to infiltrating the criminal organization, and they must race against time to find him and prevent a worldwide catastrophe. Toss in Hugh Grant as a British mucky-muck and the story gets even more muddled, as it spirals to a silly and unfulfilling conclusion. BunzelScore: 2/5

Road House [original]

I never caught this Patrick Swayze vehicle when it first appeared in theaters in 1989; if I had, I wouldn’t have wasted another two hours of my life with it last week. I know this film has its fans—which is why, I presume, it was remade this year [see review, below]—but c’mon: it’s just laughingly bad. Burdened by a poor premise, flat dialogue, and lifeless characters—except for a young Sam Elliott, who saves the few scenes he’s in—it’s just painful to watch. I made it through to the end, which left me cheering…but not for the reason director Rowdy Herrington intended. BunzelScore: 0.5/5 [Note: the .5 is added for Elliott.]

Road House [remake]

I assume that at some point over the last few years director Doug Limon pitched studio execs the idea for a remake of 1989’s Road House. I can imagine that someone posed the question “why?”, to which Limon probably replied “because I can make it better.” In theory so could a room full of monkeys, but Limon apparently received the green light and gifted the world this 2024 version. So…is this one better than the original? Yes, but by default [see above review] and only marginally so. The storyline: Jake Gyllenhaal plays Elwood Dalton, a former UFC fighter whose job is to eliminate the evil that’s plaguing a road house in the Florida Keys, but who in fact is flailing [and alternately grinning and grimacing] his way through life. In the end this film doesn’t really take itself seriously, and neither should the audience. BunzelScore: 1/5

Anna

Told out of chronological order, Anna at first is somewhat difficult to follow as it patches together the story of a young Russian woman and victim of domestic abuse [Sasha Luss] who is discovered by a KGB agent named Alex Tchenkov [Luke Evans] and recruits her as a field operative. After a year of training, she is told that for the next five years, she must work under senior KGB handler Olga [Helen Mirren]; once the five years are up, she will be discharged from the agency and can start her life over again. However, the new director of the KGB refuses to honor the original agreement as he believes that former agents are a liability to the agency and that the only path to freedom is death. When the CIA uncovers her true identity, she agrees to work for them as a double agent with Agent Leonard Miller [Cillian Murphy] as her handler. All in all, it’s a totally satisfying spy thriller that’s packed with some heart-pounding twists along the way. BunzelScore: 4/5.

The Irishman

I had wanted to see The Irishman when it was released in 2019, but at the time it was impossible to carve three and a half hours out of any day to do so. That turned out to be my great fortune, because the wait turned out to well worth it. This film is Martin Scorsese at his cinematic finest, and begins with a long tracking shot during which we meet former hit man and union truck driver Frank Sheeran [Robert DeNiro], reflecting on his life’s journey through the ranks of organized crime from the time he meets Philadelphia mob boss Russell Bufalino [Joe Pesci] to his association with Teamsters union head Jimmy Hoffa [Al Pacino]. Much more than simply a movie about the mob, The Irishman is an epic story of friendship and love, betrayal and loyalty…all painted on a canvas of mid-twentieth century America. Based on the book I Heard You Paint Houses, this masterpiece is nuanced with subtle layers of regret, duty, morality, mortality—and the ultimate path we all take, and the life-altering decisions we make along the way. BunzelScore: 5/5

The Mechanic [1972]

I had seen the Jason Statham remake of this film when it was released in 2011, and vowed to watch the original if/when I ever got the opportunity. That moment came courtesy of Netflix, and I eagerly settled in with modest anticipation to see how Charles Bronson handled the role of aging assassin Arthur Bishop in a role that defined the 1970s action flick. The plot: After knocking off "Big Harry" McKenna (Keenan Wynn), he meets Big Harry's ne’er-do-well son, Steve McKenna (Jan-Michael Vincent), who shows interest in becoming an assassin himself. Bishop trains the young man to become a professional killer, but his superiors don’t approve of this move. While the premise may have worked on paper, the execution [pardon the pun] does not, primarily because Vincent’s acting is agonizingly atrocious. While there are a couple of twists, they’re telegraphed so far in advance they land with a thud. Note: Bronson’s house in the movie is pretty cool, but it’s not enough to make the movie worth watching. BunzelScore: 2/5

The Little Things

I’ll watch anything starring Denzel Washington, and I found The Little Things to be one of his more thought-provoking and contemplative of his films of the past few years. Critically described as “a cross between Se7en and Insomnia,” it’s a character-driven thriller that pairs up seasoned [yet-disgraced] Kern County deputy sheriff Joe Deacon [Washington] with an entitled LAPD investigator Jim Baxter [Rami Malek], who investigate a string of murders that may have been committed by a strange loner [Jared Leto]. As with most compelling thrillers, this one has multiple layers of guilt, regret, anguish, and personal determination, as both partners work to solve the crimes, albeit for different reasons. Ultimately the film becomes a little too morally ambiguous, with an ending that [no spoiler alert] leaves the viewer wanting more. Still, it’s an excellent character study, as is the way with a solid noir film. BunzelScore: 4/5

Leon: The Professional

Leon: The Professional is an English-language French film written and directed by Luc Besson and starring Jean Reno as Leon, a naïve and illiterate child-like man when he’s off the job. When he’s on the job, however, he’s as ruthless an assassin as ever terrorized the victims he’s contracted to kill in New York City. We know almost nothing about him except that he lives in the same building as 11-year-old Mathilda [magnificently portrayed by a young Natalie Portman], who loses her entire family in a bloody attack led by a corrupt DEA official. After she is orphaned, he brings the desperate girl under his wing and thus changing his life forever. It’s a magnificent motion picture, and my only regret is that I watched the dumbed-down, highly edited version that cut a full 25 minutes in an attempt to make American audiences more comfortable with the relationship between an aging man and a not-so-innocent child. I’m now on a quest to find the full, unblemished director’s cut. BunzelScore: 4.5/5

Snatch

I’d intended to watch this Guy Ritchie 2000 comedy caper ever since Facebook fed me a short clip of Brad Pitt’s unintelligible accent he developed to play Gypsy boxer Mickey O’Neil, and finally got the chance. Set in the London criminal underworld, Snatch follows two intertwined plots, one dealing with the search for a stolen diamond, the other with Turkish [Jason Statham], a small-time boxing promoter who finds himself under the thumb of “Brick Top” Pulford [Alan Ford], a ruthless gangster who is ready and willing to have his subordinates carry out severe and sadistic acts of violence. Not dissimilar to Ritchie’s Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, the film delivers more style than substance, which works just fine given the snappy dialogue, comedic editing, creatively developed characters, and quick pacing. BunzelScore: 3.5/5

Coming Tuesday, September 10

The Fall Of Vivaldi

On a rainy night across Europe, several seemingly unrelated

incidents unfold in quick order:

• In the City of Light, a beautiful young Parisian newscaster

named Gabrielle Lamoines is brutally murdered in her bed,

just as…

• A disgraced British billionaire takes a dive from the top floor

terrace of a luxury resort on the island of Cyprus, at the same time that…

• Reporter Carter Logan causes the death of a former lieutenant

of the Italian mafia in a narrow street in Rome, not far from…

• The Tuscan farmhouse where Alessandro Bortolotti, the head

of a hard-right neofascist movement, is plotting a deadly

attack on the G20 global summit, while…

• A notorious Russian oligarch named Georgy Sokolov plans to

auction off a kidnapped American teen named Abby Evans in

an online event streamed from his villa on the island of Ibiza.

Each of these random events has one thing in common: Retired assassin Ronin Phythian, once known as “the most dangerous man alive”...