Ronin Review by Thom (4.5 Stars)

Ronin Review by Thom (4.5 Stars) | MatchFlick

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Movie Details

All Movie Info

Starring:
Robert De Niro, Jean Reno, Stellan Skarsgard, Natascha McElhone, Jonathan Pryce, Skipp Sudduth, Michael Lonsdale, Sean Bean, Jan Triska, Feodor Atkine

Directed By:
John Frankenheimer

Written By:
David Mamet

Ronin (1998)

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Movie Review by Thom
October 12th, 2007

No Lack of a Master

If you're accustomed to David Mamet's work you can be sure that you better pay attention, because he's not going to explain anything twice, some things not even once; if you can't keep up or don't know everything that's going on at any given time he's not stopping or slowing down for you. With so much spelled out for audiences so the most base of fool doesn't need to hurt themselves thinking about troublesome things like plot and character, it's nice to see Mamet's work lay out a story where people don't ask questions to which they already know the answers (usually for the sake of the audience).

Ronin follows the tale of Sam (Robert De niro), a gun for hire, mixing up with other guns for hire Vincent (Jean Reno), Spence (Sean Bean), Gregor (Stellan Skarsgard), and Larry (Skipp Skudduth) to get a mysterious "case" for ex-IRA wild-card Seamus O'Rourke (Jonathan Pryce) who works behinds the scenes through Deirdre (Natascha McElhone).

Who are they taking the case from? What's in the case? Who can you trust?

There's a lot in Ronin to hang a hat on. De niro and Reno share a remarkable chemistry and feed off each other through out the flick; McElhone's Deirdre is wholly believable as the Irish gal drawn into the events when "a wealthy scoundrel seduced and betrayed" her. Also of note is an appearance by Michael Lonsdale as Vincent's trusted friend Jean-Pierre, who harbors Sam but trusts him not a spit.

Ronin also easily has some of the more realistic and remarkable car chases in my recent memory (I loathe chase sequences as a rule) and good shoot outs that are just at the appropriate level of carnage and realism. It also adds something that the entire things seems to be shot on the actual streets and alleys of France.

Ronin is near perfect; well written, acted, edited, and overall executed. Certainly on the list of "if you haven't seen it you should".

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