Set during the Troubles in Northern Ireland in 1974, Finbar Murphy (Liam Neeson) is an aging widowed hitman who seeks to leave his work behind. During one of his walks through the village, Finbar comes across Moya (Michelle Gleeson), the daughter of village bartender Sinead (Sarah Greene) and sees several bruises upon her. Walking her home Finbar soon learns Curtis June (Desmond Eastwood), a man claiming to be her uncle, is the one abusing her and takes matters into his own hands and kills him. Curtis' sister Doireann McCann (Kerry Condon), the head of an IRA cell in hiding after a bombing goes wrong, sets about finding her brother putting Finbar on a violent collision course.
In the Land of Saints and Sinners is the latest action thriller starring Liam Neeson and features the actor once again in a mid-budget gritty affair as an aging man of violence. Neeson was apparently quite taken with the script as well as the opportunity to work with longtime friend Ciaran Hinds and sees him return to work with Robert Lorenz of The Marksman. While the movie doesn't stray too far from the established Neeson mold, its setting and neo-western framing help to make it a cut above the crop of the recent variety of this kind of movie.
As with The Marksman, Robert Lorenz stages the film like a classic western albeit transferred to the lush green of Ireland's Northern Coast. While Neeson is once again playing a man with a heavy violent past, the movie feels like it's channeling something like Shane to a degree in trying to escape ones past. The best scenes of the movie are in the opening 40 minutes with Neeson interacting with various people in the village with Sarah Green, Ciaran Hinds, Nimah Cusack, and especially Michelle Gleeson giving good performances and there's a sense of melancholy in these scenes where he's getting to know his community free of the burden of his profession. Once we get more into the revenge angle it becomes somewhat more conventional but the IRA cell lead by Kerry Condon's Doireann are well acted and some engaging antagonists for Finbar to face off against. I do however feel the movie is uncertain as to whether its playing as more of a character piece or a more disposable case of revenge wish fulfillment down to an ending that I feel undermines parts of the movie. In terms of movies that are set during this time period it treats it pretty shallow and surface level in comparison to more dramatic works like Belfast or even something that was more aligned with thrillers like the underrated '71.
In the Land of Saints and Sinners has more dramatic weight than it really needed for this kind of movie and while it starts with a lot of promise it opts to go more conventional as it goes along and culminating in an ending that I personally don't feel fits with the earlier thematic framing. I do however mildly recommend the movie as a decent neo-western with a novel setting and a good performance by Neeson.
In the Land of Saints and Sinners is the latest action thriller starring Liam Neeson and features the actor once again in a mid-budget gritty affair as an aging man of violence. Neeson was apparently quite taken with the script as well as the opportunity to work with longtime friend Ciaran Hinds and sees him return to work with Robert Lorenz of The Marksman. While the movie doesn't stray too far from the established Neeson mold, its setting and neo-western framing help to make it a cut above the crop of the recent variety of this kind of movie.
As with The Marksman, Robert Lorenz stages the film like a classic western albeit transferred to the lush green of Ireland's Northern Coast. While Neeson is once again playing a man with a heavy violent past, the movie feels like it's channeling something like Shane to a degree in trying to escape ones past. The best scenes of the movie are in the opening 40 minutes with Neeson interacting with various people in the village with Sarah Green, Ciaran Hinds, Nimah Cusack, and especially Michelle Gleeson giving good performances and there's a sense of melancholy in these scenes where he's getting to know his community free of the burden of his profession. Once we get more into the revenge angle it becomes somewhat more conventional but the IRA cell lead by Kerry Condon's Doireann are well acted and some engaging antagonists for Finbar to face off against. I do however feel the movie is uncertain as to whether its playing as more of a character piece or a more disposable case of revenge wish fulfillment down to an ending that I feel undermines parts of the movie. In terms of movies that are set during this time period it treats it pretty shallow and surface level in comparison to more dramatic works like Belfast or even something that was more aligned with thrillers like the underrated '71.
In the Land of Saints and Sinners has more dramatic weight than it really needed for this kind of movie and while it starts with a lot of promise it opts to go more conventional as it goes along and culminating in an ending that I personally don't feel fits with the earlier thematic framing. I do however mildly recommend the movie as a decent neo-western with a novel setting and a good performance by Neeson.