En tierra de santos y pecadores

After their Belfast bombing goes awry in terrific 1974-based Irish dramatic thriller "In The Land of Saints And Sinners", IRA militant Kerry Condon (excellent again) & crew hide out in the small Donegal hometown of Ciarán Hinds (a quiet cop) and his pal Liam Neeson (a low lying hired killer (with Jack Gleeson (outstanding)) under Colm Meaney). As paths cross, friction flares, violence kicks in, all leading to quite the explosive show-down. While director Robert Lorenz doesn't QUITE do justice to his superb cast (the film's not as dark & weighty as it maybe coulda been), writers Mark Michael McNally & Terry Loane certainly still make it engaging. Eminently watchable fare.

Liam Neeson seems well suited to the role as a widowed hitman going up against the IRA, probably because its on his home turf and seems more relaxed around others from the same county?

He plays well off Ciaran Hinds as the local Garda and their friendship is funny and touching.

Kerry Condon is excellent as the villian; believable and refreshing to see a female as the baddie.

I liked the scenery (obviously!) and the soundtrack is solid.

We did struggle a lot with the dialogue , the accents here are very thick so we found it difficult to follow events.

The sweet, good natured Irish villagers and their simple life seemed trite and stereotypical but it's an watchable, well acted would be 'Western'

STAR RATING: ***** Brilliant **** Very Good *** Okay ** Poor * Awful

In the early 1970's, a rebel IRA faction, headed by Doiraenn McCann (Kerry Condon) plant a carbomb in a side street. Meanwhile, Finbar Murphy (Liam Neeson) is a former World War II veteran and mercenary, carrying out assignments for contractor Robert McQue (Colm Meaney.) Burnt out and cynical, he finds a personal reason to care when he sees a young girl being controlled by Curtis Jane (Desmond Eastwood), which sets in motion a shattering chain of events, involving a collision with Doiraenn and her clan.

No matter how much time passes, the western remains one of the most enduring genres, always finding new life in different variations in different styles of films, even to the point of being used in films set in the present times. Director Robert Lorenz is the latest example of this, following in the footsteps of films like 2016's Hell or High Water, with this slow burner. If you don't know it's been framed as a 'modern western', it won't immediately dawn on you, making the experience all the more of a meandering one.

Set against the backdrop of some pretty turbulent events in Ireland's history, it gives it some pretty heavy baggage to contend with, against the motivation of making some kind of modern day Clint Eastwood film. But in terms of lead star Neeson, it just feels like another notch on the post of his later life action hero trajectory, which he infuses with his usual gruff, mumbling style, to much the same effect as ever. He's propped up by a support cast, including veteran's such as Meany, and Condon, who is effectively icy and hard faced as the dogged central protagonist.

For die hard fans of the western genre who still exist in this day and age, the slower, more meandering pace and atomised plot might be more acceptable. It may even do this for those with a passing interest, and the result is something at least marginally successful. ***

I suppose this worked for me not because it has Liam Neeson dispensing typical Liam Neeson savior duties, but for its '70s Irish backdrop, some fine supporting performances, and a snowball-ish plot. For a change, Neeson looks and feels comfortable on his home turf, and his "good heart" becomes the reason for things spiraling out of control. An attempt to help one of the locals invites trouble, and though this is somewhat of a cliché in actioners featuring older stars, the story progression is quite interesting. Kerry Condon, in an antagonistic role, is having fun and chewing up the scenery (I can't wait to see how good she is in Night Swim). There's also the amusing sidekick character played by Jack Gleeson and the confused cop friend played by a reliable Ciarán Hinds; both commendable. Tom Stern's effort in capturing panoramic Irish imagery is probably the strongest reason, however, to watch the film.

At first glance this movie looks like the typical Liam Neeson action-revenge-flick that we all have gotten used to. But "In The Land of Saints and Sinners" stand out due to great acting by a stellar supporting cast and by fantastic cinematography.

The story takes place in a small irish coastal town during the 70's. Liam Neeson plays an ex war hero now turned hitman, and when trying to turn his old sinful life around he gets in trouble with a bunch of IRA.terrorists in hidehout after a bombing in Dublin.

The movie is filled with great supporting actors such as Ciarán Hinds, Cold Meaney,Jack Gleeson and Kerry Condon. The latter was great in The Banshees of Inisherin, and in this movie she plays a fantastic villain. The overall story and dialogue is OK, but it's the acting together with the beautiful cinematography that carries this movie to an above average Liam Neeson revenge flick.