The DVD, in photos online, tell you nothing. (I watched it late night, BBC2). Firstly, it's written/directed by Limerick born David Gleeson (this is his 2nd feature), is set in Dublin, 93mins long and stars Eriq Ebouaney and James Frain.
Ebouaney plays a Congolese immigrant, who has escaped a violent past in his homeland. He's brought his wife over and they have a young girl. He's found work as a security guard at a bank but past events come back to haunt him, when Irish thug Frain and his gang kidnap his family - all he has to do is be the insider for them robbing his bank.
It's a polished and modern production, with lots of moody lighting, booming bass thuds and prowling camera, so, so far, so good. As a heist movie, it's OK but that tired formula needs a bit more to get a movie standing out above the rest. Ebouaney helps this, he is both convincing as the new citizen trying to lead a good life and as a human being out of his depth. Frain has less screen presence but is suitably psychotic where he should be.
The whole thing moves along pretty quickly - in just over half an hour, they're already inside the bank vaults. It's also great to see a different city and its streets to the usual as a setting.
Such crime thrillers aren't my staple film diet so The Front Line will never make any of my top anything lists. However, if such are, you could do a lot worse than this one for a mid-week rental or if you can find it on Sky somewhere. At the price here, it's just not worth it, though.
