The hero of Renny Harlin’s action film is a mason, a spy and a cliché.
When Renny Harlin prepared to shoot The Bricklayer -film, he gave an interview to MTV. “It’s a bit of a James Bond-type action thriller,” he described the work at the time.
However, the finished work does not have the smoothness of James Bond or the style of a man of the world. And no budget either According to Harlin we are talking about tens of millions. What they have in common is mostly a spy story.
The film’s hero, Steve Vail (Aaron Eckhart) works as a bricklayer until an old CIA colleague persuades him to return to agent work. Someone kills European journalists, and the CIA is framed as the culprit.
In the intelligence service, the former assistant of the service, Victor Radek, is suspected as the perpetrator (Clifton Collins Jr.). Agent Kate Bannon (Nina Dobrev).
Bannon and Vail are sent to Greece, where the latest murder has taken place.
Best genre films, on the one hand, meet the expectations of the audience, on the other hand, they know how to circumvent worn-out clichés. The latter does not The Bricklayerilta succeed especially with the characters.
Vail is a stuffy caricature of the action hero of yesteryear. He speaks hoarse-voiced one-liners.
“This one doesn’t bite too much,” Vail says as he hands the handgun to Bannon. “Your favorite Uncle Sam,” he replies when Bannon asks who pays for the party. “I missed Greece”, he blurts out when asked about the reason for returning.
The belittling attitude towards the younger female colleague makes Vail as a character downright tired. The creators of Bond would not step into this trap again.
The pattern includes that Bannon will remain an ancient “damsel in distress” side character.
The villain, on the other hand, mostly terrifies with a rude dude outfit.
Agent Kate Bannon (Nina Dobrev) has been made yet another “damsel in distress”.
The public expectations The Bricklayer still fulfills somehow, at least if they are at the height of a dozen activities. Real men are shot, chased by cars and blown up. The number of victims is growing to a great extent, and there are hardly any backwaters.
Best Matti Eerikäinen among the action scenes depicted, the scene set in the nightclub with its longer shots and choreography stands out.
I’m responsible the film’s biggest failings – the characters, the laughable dialogue, and the endless plot pattern where murders would lead to wars – can be placed on the shoulders of the screenwriters. Pete Travis and Hanna Weg have based the script on a writer under the name Noah Boyd Paul Lindsayn to the novel.
The slight successes can be counted in director Harlin’s favor, but to comeback speeches The Bricklayer however, provides no rationale. Harlin’s best films Die Hard 2 (1990), Cliffhanger (1993) and Long Kiss Goodnight (1996) are The Bricklayerista almost as far away as the current Bonds.
The Bricklayer (Bulgaria/Kreikka/USA 2023), Viaplay (K15). ★★