Ronin, 1998

Spence: You ever kill anybody?

Sam: I hurt somebody's feelings once.

If you haven’t seen Ronin, you have genuinely missed out. This action-thriller directed by John Frankenheimer boasts a star-studded cast, great action scenes (including the best car chase I have ever seen) and a genuinely interesting storyline.

A gang of Cold War warriors,  Ex-CIA Sam ( Robert De Niro), French Gangster Vincent (Jean Reno), SAS veteran Spence (Sean Bean), getaway driver Larry (Skipp Sudduth) and, finally, former Stasi/KGB operative Gregor (Stellan Skarsgård) are hired by Deirdre (Natascha McElhone) to get a suitcase from the Russian Mafia . Retrieving the case is pretty easy; however, it all goes downhill when Gregor steals the suitcase, forcing Deirdre to leave the team and join with IRA enforcer Seamus O'Rourke (Jonathan Pryce). Sam and Vincent decide to get the case for themselves, competing with Seamus and Deirdre to track down Gregor before he sells it back to the Russians.

The main theme in the film is the effect of past mistakes and choices on the present. When Deirdre is asked why she joined the IRA, she retorts “a wealthy scoundrel seduced and betrayed me.” Sam agrees with her and we are left wondering who exactly has seduced these people, be it Terrorist groups committed to a cause, or even Governments. These are all individuals who have made choices in the past which have rebounded on them. They joined causes that they believed in during the Cold War, but which in the 90’s have left them living in a dangerous and dark world. These people are not young patriotic James Bonds. These are tired, cynical and middle-aged veterans of past shadow wars who now have to live with their past.

All references come from IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0122690/?ref_=nv_sr_2

Click here to buy Ronin: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ronin-DVD-Robert-De-Niro/dp/B00004CYL5/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391967407&sr=8-1&keywords=ronin