In the Land of Saints and Sinners (2023)

Solid Crime Thriller - In the Land of Saints and Sinners review by GI

Ever since Liam Neeson reinvented himself as a tough guy action man in Taken (2008) he's hardly made a decent film and sometimes his hard man persona has stretched the limits of plausibility. So this latest offering I approached with caution but its turns out to be a more humble and entertaining film. Neeson plays Finbar, a quiet man posing as book dealer in a small village in western Ireland but in reality he's an ex soldier who works as an enforcer for the local criminal boss (Colm Meaney). The year is 1974 and the Troubles are raging over the border in Northern Ireland where an IRA team, after a bomb attack, cross the border to lie low in the very same village. When Finbar is forced to kill one of them he finds their leader, the icy hearted Doireann (Kerry Condon), is out for revenge. The Irish setting and much of the characterisations are a bit stereotyped but the director has had a stab at a local authenticity and the visuals of the rolling Donegal hills combined with the casual ruthlessness of the plot allows for a film that captures the time and the place quite nicely. Neeson plays his role down as the tired war veteran who now wants to retire from his job. Meaney is funny too in his small almost cameo part as his boss along with Jackie Gleason as Finbar's protegé and Ciarán Hinds as the local policeman but it's Condon who shines here as the cold and ruthless IRA terrorist. There's a good shoot out in the films climax and overall this is a solid thriller worth a watch.