Tag Archives: Pierce Brosnan

Italian Retirement

19 December 2023 By in Movies Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Fast Charlie

Theaters:  7 October 2023 (Limited)

Streaming:  8 December 2023

Runtime:  90 minutes

Genre:  Action–Comedy–Crime–Drama–Mystery–Thriller

els:  7.0/10

IMDB:  5.9/10

Rotten Tomatoes Critics:  86/100

Rotten Tomatoes Audience:  87/100

Metacritic Metascore:  70/100

Metacritic User Score:  6.0/10

Awards: —

Directed by: Philip Noyce

Written by:  Richard Wenk–Based on Gun Monkeys by Victor Gischler

Music by:  Fil Eisler

Cast: Pierce Brosnan–James Caan–Morena Baccarin

Film Locations:  USA

Budget:  $16 million

Worldwide Box Office:  —

Fast Charlie is directed by Australian Philip Noyce whose best work revolves around the action, crime, and thriller genres. His oeuvre includes the 1992 Patriot Games, the 1994 Clear and Present Danger, and the 1999 The Bone Collector. Pierce Brosnan was Noyce’s first choice as Charlie due to gun skills and his acting abilities–Bond, James Bond. Brosnan does seem a natural in this film even though his interpretation of a southern accent is so heavy the vowels just drag into next week with a possible nap needed along the way. Never mind that the actual local New Orleans’ accent is closer to Jersey speak than a Charleston drawl.

Pierce Brosnan is Charlie Swift, a fixer, a concierge as he refers to himself when asked. If a problem requires that people disappear, he’s the man, the hitman to be exact. Charlie’s first hit in the movie is for money. After that they are for honor and revenge with the order being negotiable. Along the way he finally discovers the rational for his dream retirement in the hills and vineyards of Tuscany, Italy.

Brosnan sums up the movie his way, explaining the movie with a bit of inside baseball jargon thrown in for good measure: ‘Charlie is a little bit more of a chamber piece because of the tonality of his life and wanting to be as authentic as possible within the setting. When the curtain goes up, you really are in a specific place and time. It’s a more interior piece. But then of course, you put the gun in his hand, and he has to go shoot people.‘ Not sure what all that means except maybe it describes a swiftly made, low budget action movie that works.

FootnoteA

This is a movie to let go of your world for an hour and a half. There are no big messages to ponder. No hidden meaning to watch for. Just a good story with a no-hole plot, competent to particularly good acting and no extraneous scenes directing. There will be no awards for this flick, but the audience doesn’t care. As Glenn Kenny over at RogerEbert.com succinctly explains, “This is the farthest thing in the cinematic firmament from a world-changer you can imagine, but as an evening’s entertainment, it’ll more than do.“

On a final note, James Caan, 82, Sonny Corleone of The Godfather fame, gave his final performance in Fast Charlie. Filming for the movie began in April of 2022 and Caan passed away in July of 2022. Go out doing what you love. RIP.

References and Readings:

Footnotes:

  • FootnoteA: Pierce Bronsan as Fast Charlie. IMDb. 2023

All Chan, All Good

3 February 2018 By in Movies Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

The Foreigner (Theaters-September 2017; Streaming-January 2018) Rated: R  Runtime: M Foreigner 2017113-114 minutes

Genre: Action-Crime-Drama-Mystery-Suspense-Thriller

els – 7.0/10

IMDb – 7.1/10

Amazon – 4.6/5 stars

Rotten Tomatoes Critics – 5.9/10

Rotten Tomatoes Audience – 3.8/5

Metacritic Metascore – 55/100

Metacritic User Score – 7.1/10

Directed by: Martin Campbell

Written by: David Marconi (screenplay), Stephan Leather (novel)

Music by: Cliff Martinez

Cast: Jackie Chan, Pierce Brosnan

Film Locations:  London, England; Larne, Northern Ireland

Budget: $35,000,000

Worldwide Box Office: $140,793,485

Quan (Chan), a widower, lives a quiet London life, looking after his only daughter and his restaurant, his only major concerns are the boys chasing after his beloved teenaged girl.  Then a new IRA faction blows up a bank, killing his little girl, who was shopping at a dress shop adjacent to the bank, and Quan’s life and priorities change. He wants to know who killed his daughter, who was responsible.  He wants justice.  When the officials are unable to give him any names or promise any arrests, soon, he organizes his vigilante squad of one and slowly narrows down the possibilities; Jackie Chan style, but without malice for dogs or the innocent.

Jackie Chan steps past his normal fun side, giving the audience a taste of his drama and emotional acting abilities, and proves that his serious character portrayals are real, believable and effective.  Not since his role as a morose handyman in the 2010 Karate Kid have I seen him in such a convincing dramatic role, but this time the screenplay (Marconi) and supporting actors are not relegating him to a least common denominator of mediocrity and cheesiness.  The screenplay flows well, it’s coherent, and has enough twists to keep you guessing, but it does have a flaw, and unfortunately its a big one. Brosnan’s Liam Hennessy role is muddled, his level of involvement and guilt in the IRA bombing is never completely resolved. Maybe it’s intentional but it adds clutter to the plot and its conclusion. That aside, this is a typical Martin Campbell film, full of action, intrigue and entertainment, always spot on and fun; ok, maybe the Green Hornet was a dud, but usually his films are a must see, as is this one.

This was a fun action-drama to watch.  Jackie Chan displays what made him famous, his martial arts moves, but in the film he also displays his serious side and lets us know that, yes, he can play that part.