Maryland

I think I was expecting more of an action thriller, but this movie was turned down to three.

A guy name Vincent is hired to protect a woman and her son from bad guys looking harm her.

Some action does happen in the movie, but it was very quiet and uneventful. A bit of a a shame cause I wanted to like the movie. It was very inventive in its scale.

I think the real problem is that I'm not getting any personality from the main characters. I went to go see because Matthias Schoenaerts was the main character. I liked this guy in other movies, but he seemed dull heading up his own flick.

I wanted to see the laid out plan work out, but I was not getting enough energy.

http://cinemagardens.com

In a twist on the story of a combat veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder attempting to adjust to civilian life, director Alice Winocour realigns the balance of the narrative to focus as much on romance and one woman's perspective as action and a psychologically wounded man.

Vincent takes odd jobs as he lobbies to return to combat as a soldier. Despite its inherent dangers, combat at least is a place where he has a mission and purpose. Civilian life is not so kind. It is confusing, degrading and offers little in the way of sympathy for what Vincent has been through. A side job as part of a security team, together with his military pals, takes Vincent to a mansion, party and pretty woman who attracts his eyes and focus. In the ensuing days Vincent is drawn into a personal security detail for her. When she is targeted for kidnapping, the pair must draw upon not just Vincent's military training, but upon their basic qualities as human beings. Because each of them has moved in different spheres until then, this may not work so well.

The sound selections and wounded hero narrative are reminiscent of the Nicolas Winding Refn films that I love. However, Winocour cannot quite match Refn's levels of tension, chemistry and spectacle. I admire the acting of Matthias Schoenaerts and he does not disappoint here. While the film has some potential to live up to, there is ample suspense and intrigue inside the characters and the scenes that envelop them. Seen at the 2016 Miami International Film Festival.

This is not your usual "home invasion" film.It's above all an incredible sensory experience.Alice Winocur (who directed 2 years ago the magnificent "Augustine") creates a great combo between drama & paranoid thriller.And don't expect a love story ala Bodyguard. Matthias Schoenaerts is phenomenal as usual.It's quite an intense performance.You're truly seeing things through the eyes of his emotionally damaged character. Diane Kruger is also solid but the movie truly belongs to King Matthias.The ending could have been slightly better but it doesn't take anything away from the quality of the film. The soundtrack is also very catchy : Gaffelstein is a genius ! He creates a very atmospheric environment. A must see !

When I review this one, I think of Tony Scott's MAN ON FIRE - it self a remake of an Elie Chouraqui's film starring Scott Glenn - and of course the coming soon Florent Emilio Siri's ELYAS, starring Roschdy Zem in a seemingly EQUALIZER or JOHN WICK like character. A former special forces soldier become a bodyguard for a wealthy family and who will have to face many dangers towards this same family - beautiful wife and - or - kid. But the movie I review now is only a bit action oriented, however not that much, it is more focused on the psychological matter, character relationship study. But it is directed by a woman, with a great dose of sensitivity, evoking the post war traumatic disorder. Unlike what the Florent Emilio Siri's film trailer suggests. ELYAS - which I will comment, don't worry - will be far more focused on the action packed stuff, as was his famous NID DE GUEPES. So, this very movie MARYLAND is a hell of a film, especially from a woman director. A wonderful little gem, offering a terrific performance from Mathias Schoendaerts. Excellent action sequences, especially a very brutal, bloody one. It was shot in Saint Jean Cap ferrat - south of France, French riviera - a town where you have hundreds of huge, gigantic billionaires villas and castles, fancy mansions mostly owned by Russian oligarchs and other wealthy, very very wealthy, businessmen whose "affairs" are far from being so legal...If you know what I mean. So, watching this movie reminds me my vacation site, and I am not a very wealthy business man !!!!

I was very surprised at this movie. The IMDb precis led me to think it was going to be an average action thriller so I watched it to fill in a dull couple of hours, but what a treat it turned out to be.

Definitely not for the Hollywood action fan, this movie is an incredibly well-paced (read: slow burn) psychological study and suspense builder. I found a lot of it reminiscent of a great Hitchcock, who was, after all, the master of building true suspense out of the ominously suggested but mainly unseen.

Matthias Schoenaerts is absolutely brilliant. His portrayal of a damaged, sometimes paranoid, drug-dependent, PTSD-suffering soldier trying to carry out a fill-in assignment on a private security detail is a masterpiece of characterisation. The directing is superb and had me watching in delight throughout the film's entirety. The whole recipe is topped off by cinematography that is so ideally matched to the mood(s) of the film, perfectly complimenting the atmospheric, slow-building story. No, we don't get to know the whole of Vincent's character during this movie, but when have you ever got to know someone well after spending a mere two hours with them? We learn what we need to to engage in the movie and that is just the right amount.

Some reviewers will bemoan the lack of a full background story, dearth of explosions and other typically Hollywood special effects, the dark settings and minimal dialogue. In my opinion that only illustrates that they entirely miss the point and magic of this beautifully made film and I suggest they go and rent a brash, loud, brain-dead, exaggerated Hollywood action explosion-fest.