There is no denying the versatility of Robert DeNiro, one of the greatest actors of his generation. The man can do almost anything, though he is best known for his gritty dramas, gangster films, and more recently, his comedies. For me, none of these genres feature the DeNiro I prefer. I actually like action badass DeNiro the best. I know this is blasphemy in most circles, but I would rather watch DeNiro beat people up in Heat and Midnight Run then watch him go through the emotional wringers in classics like Raging Bull or Taxi Driver. And I am not embarrassed to admit that!
And DeNiro is in fine badass form in Ronin, a robust and smart thriller from the late 90s, directed by John Frankenheimer (The Manchurian Candidate) and featuring an amazing cast includes Jean Reno (The Professional), Natasha McElhome (The Truman Show), Sean Bean (Lord of the Rings), Jonathan Pryce (Brazil), and Stellan Skarsgard (Good Will Hunting).
The film is smarter than your average action flick, which is immediately obvious from the title. Ronins were masterless samurai, who wandered the countryside looking for work or hiring themselves out as mercenaries. Our heroes in Ronin are in a similar dilemma. They are all special forces or former intelligence operatives from both sides of the Iron Curtain. Now that the Cold War is over, they find themselves devoid of any purpose and willing to be hired by the highest bidder. The bidder in this case is an extreme branch of the IRA, who want to steal an extremely valuable and important briefcase, the contents of which are top secret.
What follows is a wild and crazy jaunt through France, with some terrific gunfights and two AMAZING car chases. There is a lot of quality in Ronin, starting with the terrific cast. Everyone carries their weight, with DeNiro providing an especially smart performance that anchors the film. The script is also excellent, full of tough guy one liners provided by excellent playwright and filmmaker David Mamet. I also like that the script refuses to dumb itself down for the audience. Our cast is playing catchup for most of the movie and we are in the fog with them. The movie is not confusing, but it is definitely complicated and lacking in any kind of exposition, so you definitely need to pay attention. But again, I think this is all a good thing!
It is a shame that the film starts to fall apart in the last half hour. It's not that the film becomes bad. I suppose the problem is that it just runs out of steam. There is so much momentum building to that second car chase at the 2/3 mark, that everything after it seems kind of blah. And when your climactic fight is kind of blah, that's a problem.
But this doesn't change the fact that for most of its running time, Ronin is a tough and fantastic thriller, with great writing, expert direction and top notch acting. I miss this DeNiro. I wish he would stop making Focker movies and pick up a gun again.
MVP:
As much as I like Robert DeNiro in this movie, he is not the MVP. The MVP goes to Car Chases. This may seem silly, but when you see the movie you will understand. These are two of the most exciting car chases I've seen, the second of which might actually be the best car chase I have ever seen. I know Bullett is the gold standard of car chases, but DeNiro's run through the back streets of Arles blows it out of the water. Not even a contest. So for me, this is an easy one!
BEST LINE:
Spence: You ever kill anybody?
Sam: I hurt somebody's feelings once.
TRIVIA:
David Mamet worked on the film as a script doctor, but actually rewrote huge portions of the story and dialogue. There was a dispute about who should get what credit, with the WGA ruling that the story and top script credit should go to the original writer, J.D. Zeik. Mamet then asked for his name to be either removed from the credits or replaced by his pseudonym, Richard Weisz. I don't have an opinion on this because I don't know how much work Zeik did. He may have done a lot and deserved his credit, for all I know. But I do know that the best dialogue sounds like Mamet, and I'm willing to bet that he is responsible for much of the final product. The final credits do read J.D. Zeik and Richard Weisz.
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