The Locksmith

IN A NUTSHELL: This is the directorial debut of Nicolas Harvard.

Miller (Ryan Phillippe), an ex-con recently released from prison for a bungled robbery, tries to walk a straight line and work his way back into the lives of his ex, Beth (Kate Bosworth), a police detective, and their young daughter. While Miller is doing his best to stay on the straight and narrow with the help of an old friend (Ving Rhames), he finds his past will not stay in the past, and he is forced to commit one last crime before he can truly walk away. Things once again go badly, and now not only his freedom but also his daughter's life, hang in the balance.

We've seen a lot of movies like this before. It's not particularly unique, but it's still entertaining.

THINGS I LIKED: I really like Ryan Phillippe. He's always a believable actor in his roles. Have you seen his recent TV series "Shooter"? He's fantastic in it! In this role, Ryan creates a character that we want to believe in and root for, despite his past mistakes.

Kate Bosworth always does a great job too.

Rounding out the talented cast are Ving Rhames, Charlie Weber, and Jeffrey Nordling.

We get to learn to pick locks. Ha ha

THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE: There are some bad CGI moments that are very noticeable.

The story, itself, is very straightforward and formulaic with no twists or turns to make it more interesting.

I would love to have seen more symbolic connections to locks, keys, and locksmiths.

It's frustrating to watch an ex-con want to get clean and leave his life of crime, only to be forced back in against his will. He DOES have a choice, but it's a terrible situation to be in.

Sadly, the movie is entirely forgettable. Meh.

TIPS FOR PARENTS: Profanity, including F-bombs We see people shoot and kill other people, sometimes with blood Conversations about call girls.

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The Locksmith is a modest and competent attempt at the neo-noir genre with a twist of sentimental redemption. Directed by Nicolas Harvard, the movie opens with a failed robbery that leads to the death of one of the robbers and the theft of the loot by a corrupt cop named Zwick, played by Jeffrey Nordling. The protagonist, Miller Graham, is a former locksmith who spends ten years in prison for keeping quiet about Zwick's corruption.

Upon his release, Ryan Phillippe portrays Miller as a beaten down man who tries to rebuild his life with the help of his old friend Frank and his former fiancé Beth, who is now a police detective. The story takes a twist when Miller is asked by his former friend's daughter, April, to rob a local gambling party run by her abusive boss in exchange for starting a new life.

Although the film offers a new perspective by presenting a femme fatale without seduction, the plotline is still familiar and the web of associations drawn is too obvious. The message of the film, about never sending a man to do a woman's job, is different, but the filmmakers could have put it across with more enthusiasm. The movie is well-acted, but it fails to bring anything new to the neo-noir genre.

The Locksmith is directed by first time director Nicholas Harvard and stars Ryan Phillipe, Kate Bosworth and Ving Rhames.

The story follows Miller a safecracker where in a job gone bad his partner and friend, Kevin Reyes gets murdered by a dirty cop and he is forced to take the fall. 10 years later he gets out and his friend Frank (Ving Rhames) urges him to make things up to his ex finance (Kate Bosworth) and his young daughter. Unfortunately things get more complicated for Miller when April Reyes shows up asking for his help. Feeling like he owes her for what he let happen to her brother he soon finds himself back in the world he thought he left behind. To make matters worse the dirty cop who got him sent to prison in the first place is still out there looking to make Miller's life a living hell.

Let's start with the good. For a first time feature by Nicholas Harvard this is pretty competently directed and actually looks like a real movie which isn't something I can't say about other DTV movies. The core cast here consisting of Ryan Phillipe, Kate Bosworth and Ving Rhames all do a good job and are beleievable in their roles. Unfortunately what holds this movie back is the script and generic story. A case of "too many cooks in the kitchen" working together to create a project somehow simultaneously convoluted and playing things a little too safe to really amount to much. Maybe not as totally devoid of charm as you'd expect, but still really only ever vaguely competent at best and mediocre at worst.

In the end The Locksmith is just bland all around despite committed lead performances from both Ryan Phillipe and Kate Bosworth.

I've never a more emphatic 5 in my life. It's not horrible, it's not good either. It's a 5. Average film. The dialogue is only written to move the plot along. You've probably seen this same plot 2 dozen times with different settings and variables.

The acting is okay, ving rhames is good, but mostly it's just a go through the motions movie. Good guy, bad guys, good cop, bad cops, evil real estate guy, some tepid violence. It's really a movie I'll never think about again.

It's like when you write a movie and you want everyone to agree, not take any risks and make a cookie cutter film that's been done a hundred times. This is that movie. If you love average stuff and like to be bored and see a through the motions movie then this is your jam!!!

What is it these days? Aren't there enough good writers in Hollywood who can write a BELIEVABLE script? I guess not, because this movie fails to impress because of a huge lack in credibility of several plot turns.

The bad: this movie wasnt original to begin with, but that shouldnt have been a problem, IF ONLY they had written a story that one could believe in and would make some sense. But they didnt.

They must take us viewers for morons. Just to name 1 example: a locksmith (Ryan Phillipe) is going to rob a pokergame for half a million dollars. Without any preparation he just barges in and then expects to walk out unharmed. And he miracuslously succeeds! Then he goes to return the money with a ski mask on. Ha ha ha, completely laughable script!!!

It's such a pity of the ridiculous script, because this movie had the potential to be at least an okay gangster movie. Now it's cringeworthy to watch at.

It starts out okay though, THAT's the problem. I got suckered in watching this movie and only realising half way through what a ridiculous story it is...