1998, John Frankenheimer (Birdman of Alcatraz) -- Amazon
Meanwhile Kent considers it one of his favourite films. I do not want to dunk on it, for even in my crankiness, I admire it for what it is. I realize that I am a product of my age, the last 10 years or so of unending mental stress, and I am now This Guy. This is not even my usual comparison to how I used to watch films, more an acceptance of my current levels of observation, patience and (lack of) nuance. My immediate reactions are oft unexpected. I recall liking this movie a lot more, of being enamoured with its dialed-back stylings.
It is set in the post-Cold War era, where it is posited that all the spies released from their governments are now working as mercenaries, guns-for-hire, leaderless warriors or... ronin. A group of them is gathered in Paris by Irish, probably IRA, representative Deirdre (Natascha McElhone, Halo). Two Americans: Sam (Robert DeNiro, The War with Grandpa) and Larry (what? not Ralph? Skipp Sudduth, Third Watch), and Frenchman Vincent (Jean Reno, Mes trésors). German Gregor (Stellan Skarsgård, Mamma Mia!) and a fidgety Brit named Spence (Sean Bean, Mirror Mirror). Their job is to to retrieve a case from an armed convoy. What's in the case is not their concern, after all, its a MacGuffin. Each of them is a specialist of some form. They also don't trust each other one iota.
But first step is to gather guns and supplies. That doesn't go well. Twitchy Spence loses his shit and Vincent is almost killed by the untrustworthy gun dealers, but Sam saves his life. Spence is released early from his contract. But the rest goes as planned, with Sam taking on a more leader/organizer role where Deirdre seems to be more the contact back to their patron/management.
The actual job kicks off pretty well, the ambush is intense and effective, with a bit of churning stomach collateral damage in the picturesque town of Nice. This is the first major chase scene of the movie, but for me, it just smacked of what I disliked about 70s chase-scenes --- the non-sensical nature of their editing. It starts in the town, takes a right turn and is suddenly in the countryside, speeding down narrow coastal roads, takes a left turn and is back in town, where they run down people, and crash. The subsequent gun battle gets the case... but not really. Gregor has betrayed them and Sam realizes at the last second, ditching the case he was given before it explodes.
The remainder of the movie is the recovery of the case and betrayal after betrayal. As Deirdre says, if they could have afforded to buy the contents of the case they would have. But Gregor knows someone who will buy it, and attempts a sale, but is in turn, also betrayed. Sam and Vincent give chase to the Russians, an introduction I really liked, as I believe it is the first pop culture reference to the rise of the Russian Oligarchs, the post Cold War mob bosses who ended up becoming the billionaire elite of the country, basically running it. They do get the case away from the Russians, leading to the final betrayal, as Deirdre's true boss emerges, killing Larry and speeding off with a less than happy Deirdre.
And then, the seminal car chase scene through Paris, mostly on the wrong side of the road. This shot is a masterclass in how they are done, which I imagine was inspiration for the scenes in the Bourne movies. The realistic looking cars, driving down crowded roads, often driving slow, but so tangible in the braking and corners and ... again, massive collateral damage. I cannot imagine what the news would have been reporting after the numerous casualties.
Sam and Vincent are not only betrayed, but Sam is also hurt a little, by Deirdre. But that's alright, he's doing a bit betraying himself. He was never a ronin to begin with; his master was always guiding his hand.
In the end, I was not as impressed as I recall being when I saw the movie in the 90s but I also admit, back then the idea of seeing a less-than-glossy action movie was probably my jam. I still love practical effects and back then, the separation of church & state was even more apparent back then. I am still not Robert DeNiro's biggest fan; he just doesn't impress me very much, either in acting nor characterization. He is almost always Robert DeNiro. He would have been mid-50s during the making of this movie, and while he's no Tom Cruise, he carries himself impressively, physically, in the movie. And as he was my age now, and I get hurt putting on socks, even fictionally I am impressed.
That said, Cruise is now over 60 and is not yet doing the Keanu Reeves "ouch" shuffle so he's probably in a class of his own. All that running away I guess.
So, now I have rewatched it, and can now actively separate it from Heat in my mind's eye. Time to rewatch that and compare?
The car chase in this reinvigorated the car chase as a cinematic staple. It would be a couple years before Hollywood would catch up with Bourne, the Italian Job and The Hire (which Frankenheimer directed the first entry), but all of that started here.
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