Reviews

Well... As of the 23rd of March, this is the best film I've seen all year.

From a superb opening shot, that comes back around at you later in the film, "Arlington Road" keeps the pressure on all the way through. Tim Robbins and Joan Cusack are superb as the "are they / aren't they" neighbours of Jeff Bridges, who gives his finest performance to date.

Alby "Not a terrorist" Reid

"Ronin" Starring Robert De Niro (cool), Jean Reno (very cool), Natasha McElhone (very fit), Johnathan Pryce (very scary) and Sean Bean (very in-it-for-about-five-seconds)

"Ronin" tells the story of a bunch of disavowed (very "Mission: Impossible", I know) intelligence agents who hire themselves out through a contact known only as "The Cripple" or "The Man In The Wheelchair" to the highest bidder. They are hired by Natasha McElhone (with an Irish accent, very important) to steal a case, the contents of which are unknown.

All goes to plan (if your plan includes exploding cars and high speed chases) - or does it? Suddenly double-bluffs and plot twists spring out at you from all directions. The rest of the film basically concerns itself around the case - a perfect example of a Hitchcock "Macguffin" - and the fight to get it back.

To say the direction was sharp would be an understatement. It was sharper than a razor who's just been made Professor of Sharpology at Oxford University. Also - and I'm trying not to use the words "gritty realism" - it was... How shall I put it? Real. I couldn't see any CGI for once, and I find that kinda refreshing in a film, I'm fed up of being to make absolutely anything appear, that just ain't interesting.

Sean Bean is actually only in the film for about five minutes, which ****ed me off, not because I'm a huge fan, but because it annoys me when Studios think that they can get away with passing off a huge star as being in a film when really, they're not, example: Steven Seagal in "Executive Decision", Robert De Niro in "Copland".

Robert De Niro and Jean Reno were absolutely excellent together, and I sincerely hope that they work together in the future, though hopefully not on "Godzilla 2: This time it's really, really big". Natasha McElhone, apart from being very attractive, was convincing as "am-I-the-good-girl-or-the-bad-girl?" and Sean Bean (when he was in it) was very good. Jonathan Pryce was cool, calculating, and playing his part from "Tomorrow Never Dies" all over again, I half expected Stamper to come through the wall, Arnie-style.

Onto the plot: I loved it. I thought this really was "The Thinking Man's Action Flick" - billing itself as a "car chase thriller" is no lie - (though I'm pretty sure you can't really fire a rocket launcher by sticking your head through the sunroof)... those Audi's really kick up some dust. By the middle of the film you'd got the idea, but you weren't really sure who the bad guys and who the good guys were, and by about three-quarters of the way through, I wasn't sure if there was a distinction at all... Though I'd really like to see Jean Reno playing a *really* bad guy.

Overall: It ain't quite in my Top Ten, but it's hovering around number 11.

I think the summary says it all; this is quite without doubt the worst film that it's ever been my displeasure to watch. I hated Jim Carrey in it (yep, he's good in "The Truman Show") and I hated Matthew Broderick (who isn't in "The Truman Show", but is in "Godzilla" and is bad, but is in "The Graduate" and is good).

That's all. DO NOT WATCH THIS FILM!

Guy Ritchie has made a superb first movie, and I hope he continues to make more films. All the characters are excellent, and Vinnie Jones and Lenny McLean are both superb. Altogether, an excellent film.

This is quite simply one of the best films ever made. Luc Besson has excelled himself once again.