Le protecteur

Enjoyable but in the end, sad film. Liam has a role where he can act his age, which is a plus (no sex with hot women half his age). You care about the characters. Sure, it is a bit contrived, but you need to have a story. But it has a bittersweet ending.

I thought it was a solid movie which is hard to find lately. Good mix of action, suspense, and drama.

The storyline was generic, but the acting was great/felt authentic. I liked how it didn't go overboard with the action.

Many of the critical comments (and the relatively low rating) seem to revolve around the film not meeting a viewer's expectations. Fair enough, but it just underscores the flawed premise of the imdb ratings, which have grown increasingly unreliable. This film doesn't break new ground, but it is solid entertainment. Doesn't have enough action to make it an action thriller? Too bad. Taken on its own merits, it's watchable, reasonably compelling, and has great scenery. Liam Neeson is always good, and the kid and villain are quite good.

Jim Hanson (Liam Neeson) has a shrinking property on the American Mexican border. The bank is foreclosing on what's left of his property including the hill where he spread his late wife's ashes. Her medical treatments had drained their life savings. He often finds illegals crossing his property. One day, he comes across Rosa and her son Miguel. They're on the run from the Mexican cartel. Jim gets into a gun battle and kills one of the cartel gunmen. Rosa is killed. Eventually, Jim is on the run with Miguel. Jim's stepdaughter Sarah Pennington (Katheryn Winnick) is a border agent.

This needs a few script changes including several situations during the final confrontation. There are some bad old fashion holdouts with the ending. Jim would never lay down his gun. As soon as that happens, both him and the kid would be killed. The biggest change I would make is to get rid of the money. It muddies Jim's motivation in helping Miguel. It would also heighten the danger by taking away a resource. In addition, Jim should have used the money to buy a car. The bad guys know the car and he knows the bad guys know it after the corrupt cop. It's also shot up to heck and on its last legs. Another change is Miguel's declaration that he wants to go home. Here's the deal. The kid is written as a real smart character. He wouldn't be dumb enough to want to go home where he can expect certain death. Overall, I like this lone marine who wants to do the right thing and Liam Neeson playing it. The script for this simplistic story has a few flaws that needs cleaning up.

This is only the second film by director Robert Lorenzo. Who's he? Exactly. He is best known as an assistant director and producer of mostly Clint Eastwood films and some great ones like Mystic River and Million Dollar Baby. His first solo film is Trouble with the Curve where the main role is played, surprisingly, by Clint Eastwood himself. I really liked that movie. The difference between this and this film is the script, this time he wrote it himself and it is not good at all. It is often predictable, one-way, and uneven. Overall though, I can't judge the film with Liam Neeson where he plays himself badly. He will turn 69 this year, and he is still making films like this. I call this a typical Liam Neeson movie, if you've watched one in the last ten years, you've watched it all. A gloomy man with a difficult and vulnerable past who does not look for troubles but they find him, and he possesses special skills that he is forced to use. The good thing about movies like this is that you know you're going to get what you expected, and all of those movies are good or very good, they won't disappoint you. Same thing with this movie. If you're going to look for holes in the script or criticize the characters, then this is not the movie for you. If you're looking for a movie that will entertain you or take a break from your commitments for a hundred minutes, and you're a fan of Mr. Neeson like me then I can definitely recommend this movie to you.