The Foreigner

Starring: Jackie Chan, Pierce Brosnan, Rufus Jones, Mark Tandy, Charlie Murphy, Lia Williams
Directed by: Martin Campbell
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Drama
2017

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: After his daughter is killed in a terrorist attack, a man (Jackie Chan) is determined to seek vengeance against those who killed her.

Review:

Tim: I was quite intrigued to watch The Foreigner. It looked like a great vehicle for Jackie Chan who embraced his age for the role. It was directed by Martin Campbell, who, despite his occasional missteps, has directed four movies I love. It looked like an adult, mature take on action drama. And the movie might be all of these things, but somehow, the total feels less than the sum of its parts. The movie was decent, it was enjoyable, but it never really broke out of the mold. It was ultimately too generic, too forgettable. I didn't mind the movie, but I didn't like it as much as I should have.

The heart of the story is a father seeking revenge for his daughter. That's fine, but it feels like we've seen dozens of these "father goes on a rampage" movies lately. It's always a solid idea, but there wasn't anything especially fresh about it. The terrorism aspect was solid in the context of the film, but again, we've seen this story before. The movie takes some weird turns in the story. There was a lot of focus on the politics behind the terrorism, taking a look at the IRA (even though they aren't called that in the movie). That aspect of the film was unexpected and mildly interesting, but I can't say those scenes were ever the most engaging of the film. It felt like it took too much focus off Chan's character's journey. It gave the film this weird split feeling- it was both a film about a father's revenge and a movie about the politics behind Irish bombings, but it was almost like the movie couldn't decide exactly what it wanted to be. The split focus splits our attention and neither story feels like it gets its full due. It all worked, but it was never as powerful as it could have been.

What I enjoyed most about the film was the performances of Jackie Chan and Pierce Brosnan. They both had expected roles, and that change made a huge difference. Chan gives a stripped down, exhausted performance. There's none of his trademark humor here. He's worn out, broken. His performance was one of the strongest I've seen him give. He was really good. He still gets to do entertaining action sequences, but those were fairly restrained. Brosnan is very good as well. He's charismatic, but has this dark, ruthless streak to him. It was not the expected role for Brosnan, and he played it exceptionally well. Chan and Brosnan only got a few scenes together, but they were quite effective. The two leads were quite outstanding. Unfortunately, the supporting cast wasn't up to their level. There really weren't any other standouts.

Martin Campbell is a good enough director to keep the story moving, although the film still felt too long at 1 hour, 53 minutes. The screenplay (which was based on a novel) was fairly decent, although there were some duller stretches that caused the middle of the film to drag on a bit. While we might be impressed with the performances, I can't say I connected well with any of the characters. Everything happening on screen was fine, but I never felt any sense of deep engagement.

There's certainly a place for films like The Foreigner. There were lots of positive elements in the film and I'm glad I spent the time watching it. However, it just didn't feel like the story was strong enough to support the exceptional performances of the two leads. Outside of the performances of Chan and Brosnan, the movie wasn't nearly memorable enough. Quan is a worthwhile character, but he's not nearly compelling enough to truly hook our interest. That's not Chan's fault, it's the writing. Still, I don't need to be overly hard on this film- it's a decent movie and you could choose far worse movies to watch.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 6.5


If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Goldeneye, The Bourne Identity, Taken, Man on Fire