2023   Samuel Goldwyn Films

Rated:  R

Length:  1 hr  45min

Action ~ Crime ~ Thriller ~ Western

Directed by:  Robert Lorenz

Starring:  Liam Neeson, Kerry Condon, Jack Gleeson, Colm Meaney and Ciarán Hinds.

“A Saint’s gotta be a Sinner first.”

Liam Neeson stars as Finbar Murphy, a hit man quietly living in Glencomcille in Donegal, Ireland. Finbar masquerades as a bookseller and lives a sedentary life amongst the locals and is friends with the local Police Officer Vincent O’Shea (Ciarán Hinds). Secretly he does contract killing for the local crime boss Robert McQue (Colm Meaney). When Finbar returned home from WW II he found that his wife had died while he was away fighting. He fell into the bottle, having fallen into an alcohol-fueled deep dark depression. Robert convinced him to put his war talents to use and become a hitman for him. Finbar takes on a job kidnapping an ex-hitman from the town of Bantry. Troubled by the man’s words before Finbar kills him, he tells Robert afterwards he is done with killing. He wants to lead a quieter, richer life and help people, not off them.

As Robert is starting his new retirement from being an assassin, a group of IRA members have found their way to the quiet little seaside town. They have extended family there and are on the lam, being wanted for a bombing that killed three innocent children. They hole up in their sister-in-law Sinéad’s barn who works at the local tavern that Finbar frequents. Finbar runs into Sinéad’s daughter Moya fishing along the road and notices her bruised wrists. He eventually gets her to tell him who did this to her and she confesses it was one of the strangers staying in her Mom’s barn. Finbar asks Robert for advice in the matter, being very upset that one of them was hurting and abusing the child.

Robert decides to take matters into his own hands and do one more unsanctioned hit by kidnapping and killing the stranger named Curtis. As Curtis is forced out of the trunk of the car, he lashes at Finbar with a knife he had hidden. As the struggle ensues, Kevin (Jack Gleeson) who is Finbar’s protégé, happens onto the scene and helps Finbar. Doireann (Kerry Condon), the leader of the band of IRA members, starts to suspect foul play when Curtis disappears and tries to find out information about the town and the local crime scene. Which eventually leads her to Robert and the knowledge that Robert and Finbar know who and what she is. And that Finbar is responsible for Curtis’s disappearance.

What follows is a hunt and chase through the Irish sea bound countryside as Finbar and Kevin, and Doireann and her gang search each other out. It is classic Liam (which I found out is short for William) Neeson doing what he does best. And doing a FINE JOB OF IT AS WELL I might add. Colm Meaney and Ciarán Hinds are familiar faces, both being Irish actors you’ve seen in a lot of movies. Both very likeable in this movie. Jack Gleeson does a great job playing the young hired assassin who dreams of a better life in California. Kerry Condon, another Irish actor, deserves a shout out in this, absolutely marvelous job of portraying the hardened IRA member fighting and killing in the name of a free Ireland. A complete bad-ass full of anger and vulgarity with no scruples when it comes to the cause.

The movie was shot entirely in Ireland with all Irish Actors and an all Irish film crew. The director wanted to do it that way to add to the realism of the movie. It is a story about “The Troubles ” in Ireland in the 1970’s, the political upheaval and merciless killings and bombings. It is definitely Irish, complete with heavy Irish brogue dialogue that can be hard to understand. Think Irish before you watch it, practice your accent. It will help with understanding the dialogue. The scenery is beautiful along the rocky coastline, and the quiet little towns. It reminds me of an old Western movie with Liam being the cowboy who brings the bad guys to justice on his terms.

I really enjoyed this movie, being a fan of Liam Neeson I think this is one of his better movies. Again, I really liked Kerry Condon in this as well. I would recommend this one, especially if you like Liam Neeson and Ireland, it does center around the troubled history of the 1970’s and The IRA.

Highly Recommended! (Two in a row!-The Piano Lesson)

TWO THUMBS UP!