Insomniac Theatre: "The Foreigner" (2017)

Sometimes, late night movie viewing can give you the opportunity to discover a rare gem of a movie- such as Jackie Chan's 2017 "The Foreigner".

After an IRA bombing kills his daughter, Ngoc Minh Quan asks the police to give him the names of the bombers involved. They refuse to do so, and advise him to let them deal with things. When Deputy First Minister Liam Hennessy- a former IRA member, denounces the attack, Quan seeks Hennessy's assistance in tracking down the bombers.

After Hennessy refuses, Quan begins a cat and mouse game with Hennessy that will only end in the names of the bombers or Quan's death...

This movie is based on the 1992 Stephen Leather novel, "The Chinaman". While I can understand the reason for the title change, I'm not entirely sure it was for the better. It went from being specifically racist to generally racist/xenophobic. Not a good thing, really.

The story was a nice balance of drama, suspense, and action, and was well paced throughout.

The characters of Quan and Hennessy were well crafted, textured, and had great depth to them. You came to really relate and sympathize with Quan, and even understand Hennessy's frustrations.

This was helped by Jackie Chan and Pierce Brosnan's acting. I found Chan's performance especially enjoyable. It was a treat to see him in such a dramatic role for a change. Brosnan's performance was great as always too. He really made the character of Hennessy engaging and interesting.

The actions scenes were great also- well planned, and exciting- while also being realistic, and even dramatic. There was emotional depth to them.

I'm definitely going to recommend this movie, and place it in "The Good"

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