BEFORE: De Niro carries over from last night's film, but I'm starting a new chain, all about spies and secret agents, which should take me to the end of the month. It's one of the biggest topics I have left, along with war films, which I'll tackle in December (as in "Merry Christmas, War Is Over")
THE PLOT: A freelancing former US intelligence agent tries to track down a mysterious package that is wanted by both the Irish and the Russians.
AFTER: This was a quite exciting film, lots of reversals and double-crosses, as there should be in a good spy film. And plenty of gun battles, explosions, and of course car chases. My favorite moment - in the middle of a prolonged car chase, the pursued car goes up a highway exit ramp, and into oncoming traffic - suddenly the man in the passenger seat decides it's a good idea to put his seatbelt on - hilarious! Now he'll be perfectly safe!
The car chases are so frantic, through the streets of Paris and Nice, it's like Midnight Club: the movie, or a French version of Grand Theft Auto. But the plot is deceptively simple - a team of mercenary ex-spies is assembled to retrieve a case. What's in the case? Doesn't matter - in fact it's better if you don't know, it would only distract you. What's important is that these guys need to nab it, in classic style.
And it turns out that the French police are just about as effective as those small-town sheriffs from the Stephen King films. Sirens are frequently heard during the shout-outs or after an explosion, but the gendarmes just never seem to arrive...
Also starring Jean Reno (last seen in "Just Visiting"), Jonathan Pryce (last seen in "De-Lovely"), Sean Bean, Stellan Skarsgard, Natascha McElhone, Skipp Sudduth (also carrying over from "Flawless"), and a cameo from ice skater Katarina Witt.
RATING: 7 out of 10 sniper rifles
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