Au pays des saints et des pécheurs

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. ***

Liam Neeson has been pumping out so many slightly generic action/revenge thrillers with the regularity of an alarm clock since Taken took off in 2008 that sometimes it's refreshing to see him do... an actual movie lol. In The Land Of Saints & Sinners is admittedly an action/revenge thriller by definition but it's a damn sight more thoughtful and artistic than most he's done lately and reminds us just what a powerful presence he can be with the right material. Here he's Finbar, a hitman in 1970's Northern Ireland who works for a local kingpin (Colm Meaney) whose outfit solely targets bad people. Finbar has vowed to give up killing, until he can't help himself knocking off the relative of a friend of his whose daughter the guy has been molesting. One less scumbag in the world, the only problem being that this particular scumbag is heavily connected to IRA factions that have been skulking in the area and soon his fiery sister (Kerry Condon) comes looking for those responsible with guns blazing. This is a wickedly suspenseful, character driven piece with vicious bursts of violence and terrific passages of philosophical dialogue in between. Neeson hasn't been this good in a while, he isn't simply on tough guy autopilot, he's actually playing *somebody.* Condon is terrifying as the fierce villainess, a monster who lost sight of her cause long ago and despite twisting morality to suit her own bitter agenda, isn't without a humanity herself that emanates through in her performance. Jack Gleeson proves that he's got more that Joffrey Lannister's sickening impudence in his acting stable and provides solid character work as a younger hitman with an unfortunate past who both admires and resents Finbar, while the usually striking Ciaran Hinds is oddly and sadly underused as the ineffective local policeman. This is a fine thriller with a rock solid, emotionally charged Neeson performance, intense antagonist work from Condon and gorgeous Irish scenery, one of the strongest films so far this year.

In the Land of Saints and Sinners shows perfectly how you make a solid movie without putting billions into special effects and explosions - just tell an old tale new with the help of a superb cast. Especially the acting shines bright in this little flick and makes the story and the characters believable. No doubt, for someone just wanting lots of bum bum and computer generated gimmicks a la Fast and Furios or Tom Cruise's quests on high octane, this won't work to well, but for someone who wants a well told story, this one will do and provide plenty. Not an excellent one but a good one for sure.

After one generic action movie after another, Liam Neeson stars in a different kind of movie.

Although I thoroughly enjoyed the former, this movie was a pleasant surprise for me for two reasons: first, it's a slower paced movie that's more of a drama than an action thriller. Secondly (and most importantly), there is no clear line between good and evil. Most of the characters can be seen as both saints and sinners in their own way.

I also liked the actors (besides Liam Neeson, especially Ciarán Hinds), the score and the landscape shots.

If you like Liam Neeson's earlier action movies but want to see something different with him in the lead role, you should watch this movie!

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'