In the Land of Saints and Sinners (8/10)
by Tony Medley
106 Minutes
R
This is Liam Neeson’s generally annual early-year
thriller. Some have been good (the first, very good) and some not so
good. This is one of the good ones. While Finbar Murphy (Neeson) leads
what appears to be a mellow life in an isolated coastal town (Glencolmcille)
in the early ‘70s, he is a political assassin in the Irish wars.
Enter Doirean (Kerry Condon), a brutal, a brutal,
emotionless, cold-blooded killer on the other side, who ends up
targeting Finbar with her vicious crew. Well directed by Robert Lorenz
from a script by Mark Michael McNally and Terry Loane, it is enhanced by
captivating cinematography (Tom Stern) of the desolate, but beautiful
Irish seaside.
The conclusion is one of the better denouements one
will see, with the tension rising by the second. My only problem with it
was the audio. I watched it on a link to my computer and had a very
difficult time with the thick Irish brogues and seemingly low-quality
audio. Even though that could have been my computer, films in which
people speak in deep accents should be enhanced by captions. Even
without understanding much of the dialogue, though, it is so well done
that I could follow what was going on.
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