The Locksmith

The Locksmith is a modest and competent attempt at the neo-noir genre with a twist of sentimental redemption. Directed by Nicolas Harvard, the movie opens with a failed robbery that leads to the death of one of the robbers and the theft of the loot by a corrupt cop named Zwick, played by Jeffrey Nordling. The protagonist, Miller Graham, is a former locksmith who spends ten years in prison for keeping quiet about Zwick's corruption.

Upon his release, Ryan Phillippe portrays Miller as a beaten down man who tries to rebuild his life with the help of his old friend Frank and his former fiancé Beth, who is now a police detective. The story takes a twist when Miller is asked by his former friend's daughter, April, to rob a local gambling party run by her abusive boss in exchange for starting a new life.

Although the film offers a new perspective by presenting a femme fatale without seduction, the plotline is still familiar and the web of associations drawn is too obvious. The message of the film, about never sending a man to do a woman's job, is different, but the filmmakers could have put it across with more enthusiasm. The movie is well-acted, but it fails to bring anything new to the neo-noir genre.

IN A NUTSHELL: This is the directorial debut of Nicolas Harvard.

Miller (Ryan Phillippe), an ex-con recently released from prison for a bungled robbery, tries to walk a straight line and work his way back into the lives of his ex, Beth (Kate Bosworth), a police detective, and their young daughter. While Miller is doing his best to stay on the straight and narrow with the help of an old friend (Ving Rhames), he finds his past will not stay in the past, and he is forced to commit one last crime before he can truly walk away. Things once again go badly, and now not only his freedom but also his daughter's life, hang in the balance.

We've seen a lot of movies like this before. It's not particularly unique, but it's still entertaining.

THINGS I LIKED: I really like Ryan Phillippe. He's always a believable actor in his roles. Have you seen his recent TV series "Shooter"? He's fantastic in it! In this role, Ryan creates a character that we want to believe in and root for, despite his past mistakes.

Kate Bosworth always does a great job too.

Rounding out the talented cast are Ving Rhames, Charlie Weber, and Jeffrey Nordling.

We get to learn to pick locks. Ha ha

THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE: There are some bad CGI moments that are very noticeable.

The story, itself, is very straightforward and formulaic with no twists or turns to make it more interesting.

I would love to have seen more symbolic connections to locks, keys, and locksmiths.

It's frustrating to watch an ex-con want to get clean and leave his life of crime, only to be forced back in against his will. He DOES have a choice, but it's a terrible situation to be in.

Sadly, the movie is entirely forgettable. Meh.

TIPS FOR PARENTS: Profanity, including F-bombs We see people shoot and kill other people, sometimes with blood Conversations about call girls.

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I've never a more emphatic 5 in my life. It's not horrible, it's not good either. It's a 5. Average film. The dialogue is only written to move the plot along. You've probably seen this same plot 2 dozen times with different settings and variables.

The acting is okay, ving rhames is good, but mostly it's just a go through the motions movie. Good guy, bad guys, good cop, bad cops, evil real estate guy, some tepid violence. It's really a movie I'll never think about again.

It's like when you write a movie and you want everyone to agree, not take any risks and make a cookie cutter film that's been done a hundred times. This is that movie. If you love average stuff and like to be bored and see a through the motions movie then this is your jam!!!

Yes, but its the kind of thriller that the primetime tv channels hallmark and lifetime wants to do but doesnt dare to do in danger of loosing faithful viewers, due to the fact that there are gunslinging and devilish decieft and blood connected to them, and that scares at least half of the subscribers over to a cleaner network...

what im trying to say is that this crimeprime of a lifetime was just like a flat tv production, well known acting names and a decent done cameraskills, it gives nothing more than a meehh and a moehh storywise and with a lack of a DA that knows the law breaking code, everything stays just as they were after shooting 3 cops and a half.

So what i mean to say is , its not the acts ... and well there are loads of plotholes in the story that a sherlock nose would hate, so therefore do not put expectations too high, cause youll be hunting low too like the grumpy old man.just a small wink for this one.

General story is incredibly badly written. The premise is made on the idea that the main character has very little common sense. So, f you get annoyed by people choosing the most obviously wrong choice for an entire film, avoid this.

Overall a dull story and frustrating to watch it unfold without wanting the scream at the screen at every choice by the main character.

The acting itself isn't bad and the cast work well together but they are held back by the poorly written dialogue.

If you don't get annoyed by asinine decisions throughout a movie then you may enjoy this but I couldn't deal with it.