The Expatriate

I recently saw this film just based on its stars, Aaron Eckhart and Olga Kurylenko. Having watched it, I wonder why it was not better promoted.

An action/suspense flick, it features Eckhart as a CIA agent whose cover suddenly disappears, putting himself and his daughter (Liana Liberato) in mortal danger. No surprise, it looks like some kind of ruthless cover-up conspiracy. Yes, we've all seen movies like this before, but this is a tense, taut, and well-made suspense movie with very good casting. Eckhart is perfect for his role as the pseudo-good guy; handsome, dapper, chiseled. Kurylenko is also great as Anna, the subtly beautiful and inscrutable former colleague and possibly lover, who has the task of bringing him in, whatever that means. Liana Liberato does a credible job as the estranged daughter who just finds out that her Dad is or was a killer.

The plot moves quickly from story setup to action, and the suspense never lets up from there. While it doesn't quite have the thrills of a 'Bourne' film, it kept me interested. And while you kind of know (or hope) how it will end, it is definitely fun getting there.

It is a good movie that I will probably watch again.

That's the German title translated into English. It takes the name of the main character and tries something with it. Aaron Eckhardt is always good and he delivers here too. Even in moments you see him being weak (or making mistakes, especially concerning his daughter or his relationship with her). Having said that, his daughter does act very crazy. Now you could excuse that behavior by saying she's a teenager, but you might also be very annoyed by this.

Either way, the relationship daughter/father does work nice for the movie. There is also a theme running with the father and his trust issues, that is not fully explored. But it still has some fine moments. The tension is high and the movie delivers on the chase scenes too. Not a masterpiece by a long shot, but a nice watch

I am a big fan of this genre, a genre that has been almost soaked of its originality, like most thriller i have watched, it didn't surpass the Bourne series but it was a series of clichés that was more comforting than worrying, Aaron Eckhart gives a very good performance as the lead character Ben Logan.

Liana Liberato gives a genuinely good performance as Eckharts estranged daughter Amy, who has been persuaded by Logan to leave her grandfathers custody in America in order to move to Belgium, to be with him.

The film starts off quite slow, but when the credits ran i was very happy with what i had witnessed, a good addition to the thriller genre.

I personally enjoyed this film despite its many flaws. This is an action movie with enough credible story to hook the viewer and entertain for the duration. The plot is somewhat convoluted and in my opinion hard to follow at times, but despite that, the movie is fast paced with plenty of realist and believable action, so what if you're not certain as to the why this is all unfolding. The ending tries to bring all the whys and wherefores together and I guess it succeeds for the most part. The acting by most was good, but don't expect any Oscar nods for any of this cast. I'm going to cut to the chase, this was a fun movie for viewing, and I would consider it an excellent 5 out of 10 film.

Ben Logan (Aaron Eckhart) is a security technology researcher in Belgium for the Halgate Group. His daughter Amy (Liana Liberato) is not happy with the move after losing her mother. He reports a missing patent in their tech to his boss Derek Kohler. Later, he discovers that the office suddenly cleared out and the head office has no records of him. A co-worker kidnaps them but Ben manages to kill him. Clues lead to his former life with co-worker Anna Brandt (Olga Kurylenko) and a vast murderous conspiracy.

There is a bit of Bourne and Taken but less. It has Eckhart. It should be good but it's only passable. The setup is interesting but any early momentum slowly fades away. It becomes formulaic without anything new or particularly great. The action is lacking something special. Having the daughter presents some potential but it ends up being more of the same. This needs some imagination and sizzle to elevate it to a higher level.