Cast: Robert DeNiro, Natascha McElhone, Jean Reno, Stellan Skaarsgard, Jonathan Pryce, Sean Bean

Director: John Frankenheimer

Previews: The Siege, A Civil Action, Meet Joe Black

Ronin is the Japanese word for warriors, who fought under a master, but lost that master, and became mercenaries of sorts, hiring themselves out, for the ultimate purpose of revenge on their masters slayer.   Unfortunately, that explanation, in the movies opening moments, and then later, in a memory refreshing monologue, is about the only part of this movie that truly makes sense.  That is my issue with Ronin.  It never really gets going, or makes much sense really.  But don't get me wrong, the objective is fairly clear, retrieval of a mysterious briefcase which has great meaning to a lot of international bigwigs (shades of Pulp Fiction),  and the dialogue, and execution, is intelligent, well-paced, and entertaining, (basically, a Hollywood rarity, an action movie, with a brain).  The action sequences are held together with smart scenes, and smart characters.  But the clarity of the plot never comes about.  The film becomes the proverbial car stuck in the mud, always moving, slow, then fast, but never really getting anywhere. 

I think the problem comes from the lack of definition in the characters of the movie.  Granted, these people are supposed to be mysterious, but at some point, I expect a more thorough explanation of things than I got.   The mood was murky, the characters were too foreign, and underdeveloped, and I really lost interest in caring about any of them.  They were obviously smart people, and hints of who they were, and why they were there, were hinted at, but never delved into as I would like to have seen.

The performances in the movie are strong for the most part.  DeNiro, is DeNiro, a derivative of his Heat character, the cool, calm, scruffy rogue, with a bit of a heart. Jean Reno (one of my favorite actors, in the few things I have seen him in) is a derivative of Leon' from The Professional (one of my favorite movies), but with more things to say, he is determined, strong, yet mysterious.   Reno does these roles very well.  Skaarsgard (the professor from Good Will Hunting), and Jonathan Pryce (from Evita, and those Infiniti ads) are slight disappointments, not really given enough to do, but making us curious, by what they are given.  Even a cameo from ice skater Katarina Witt is refreshing, and handled well.   However, the eye-catching performance to me, was from McElhone, (the sleepy-big-eyed admirer from The Truman Show).  Her eyes, which showed sympathy and emotion in that movie, show an icy cold power here, the powerful Irish brogue, who may, or may not have a heart, and definitely has some secrets.  I am now impressed with both of her appearances so far this year.

Ultimately, I cannot fault this effort, because it shows that someone out there still cares, and is trying.  The action is wonderful, the car chases are dizzying, but cinematically watchable, and the movie never really slows down, except in an attempt for us to catch our breath, and attempt to decipher what is going on.  I am not going into the details of the plot for two reasons.  First, and foremost, that I refuse to do that, but secondly, because I am not really, wholeheartedly sure.  Even when the resolution comes, it doesn't quite satisfy what the movie has built up to.  But again, I have to give this movie a hesitant recommendation, for the brains, for the action, and for the effort given forth by Frankenheimer.  Just a hint John, don't make a movie so twisted, that you cannot explain your way out, and you end up, wrapping things up too simply.  Nice try, nice film, catch a matinee of this. ($$$1/2)

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