Ronin
Category ReviewsA buddy of mine strongly recommended that I see Ronin, and I the other night I finally had the opportunity to do so.
I'm sorry to say that I cannot recommend this film.
Robert DeNiro plays the lead role in this topsy turvy tale of international espionage gone bad. He gives his expected excellent performance as Sam, a hardened old school spy displaced by the end of the cold war. Sam ends up making friends with Vincent (played by Jean Reno); who, like Sam, is an expert in skills no longer wanted or needed. The third principal character, played by the lovely Natascha McElhone, is Deirdre, the comely Irish lass with fire in her heart.
So, was the acting bad? Absolutely not. DeNiro, Reno, and McElhone all gave stellar performances. In fact, every actor in this film did a very good job. Every character was believable, and well played.
Bad script perhaps? Again no. While some of the "plot twists" were pulled from the big bag of Hollywood cliches, on the whole the storyline was very good.
Lousy action? No way. This movie has three car chases, all of which take place in heavy traffic and feature exceptional driving and incredible stunts.
Poor direction? I don't think so. John Frankenheimer was able to wring every drop of passion out of every actor. The direction of this film was excellent. As was the cinematography, props, costumes, lighting, and sets.
This movie had just about everything going for it. It should have been a monster hit -and yet I found myself wondering why I wasn't enjoying it even as I was watching it. In fact I even caught myself analyzing the camera shots in the middle of what should have been an incredible car chase. During the most important action sequence of the film I wasn't biting my nails, I was figuring out lighting angles.
As I said before, the acting was very good; and yet I couldn't seem to connect with or even care about any of the characters. Bored, bored, bored, bored, bored, bored, bored to the point where the word "bored" lost all meaning. But why?
It wasn't until this morning that I realized why I didn't like Ronin. I was in the truck on the way to work, listening to the soundtrack of Pulp Fiction when I figured it out. The reason I didn't like Ronin had nothing to do with the script, direction, acting, sets, costumes, or cinematography. I didn't like Ronin is because the score and music suck..
I think this is one of the greatest examples of how important the score in setting the tone and feeling of a movie. Without music, the audience has no empathy for your characters. Without music, the audience doesn't care.
It is a shame really. Ronin could have been a really great film -but was ultimately a let down, all because of a lousy score.
Let this be a lesson to any potential filmmakers who read this: don't skimp on the score!
-Devin
The Pridelands
Chris Byrne
Show n' Tell Thursdays
Maddox
Comments
But I honestly never really noticed the lack of a lush score to the film. Though give that I didn't, it's obvious that the score was underwhelming.
I worry that I set your expectations to high with my gushing, as well.
Posted by Nathan T. Freeman At 06:41:19 AM On 04/27/2007 | - Website - |
However I do wonder if my review of this film would be different had I seen it in an actual theatre. Perhaps the engine / traffic noise would have made a more visceral impact when watching the film on a silver screen.
-Devin.
Posted by Devin Olson At 10:56:09 AM On 04/27/2007 | - Website - |