The Reel Review
A disillusioned hitman in 1974 Ireland comes out of retirement when IRA terrorists fleeing Belfast after a deadly bomb attack show up in his tiny village in County Donegal. Liam Neeson, Kerry Condon and Ciarán Hinds star in this period crime thriller.
In the Land of Saints and Sinners plays out like a contemporary Western, with a clever, straightforward screenplay from Mark Michael McNally and Terry Loane. Director Robert Lorenz harnesses Liam Neeson’s vigilante stereotype into a clever story that is a welcomed step up from Neeson’s most recent string of predictable (and some, really bad) films. Condon (The Banshees of Inisherin) makes quite the potty-mouthed villain as she and the rest of the all-Irish, all-star line-up of supporting character actors – among them, an underutilized Hinds (Belfast), Colm Meaney (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) and Jack Gleeson (the evil King Joffrey in Game of Thrones) – give the film an authentic, lived-in vibe.
The story is pretty predictable (shocker: our anti-hero Neeson WILL prevail) and while the pacing sags a bit in its midsection, even so, the strong performances and stunning visuals of the Irish countryside make this an entertaining and ultimately satisfying watch.
REEL FACTS
• Producer/director Robert Lorenz is best known as being a longtime producing collaborator with Clint Eastwood, having been nominated for the Best Picture Oscar three times – for 2014’s American Sniper, 2006’s Letters from Iwo Jima and 2003’s Mystic River.
• The film was made with an all-Irish cast and crew and filmed exclusively in County Donegal, Ireland’s northernmost county, isolated culturally and politically due to it being so geographically remote from the rest of the country.
• After his iconic role as the evil King Joffrey in Game of Thrones from 2011-2014, Jack Gleeson took a years-long break from TV and film acting, instead focusing on performing onstage. He will next appear in the upcoming TV miniseries House of Guinness.
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