In the Land of Saints and Sinners

While man has been on this planet, there have been wars; the farther we progress in time, the more wars ensue. During the 1970's, people had to suffer through the war in the United Kingdom with the Catholics being at odds with the Protestants. This is the backdrop of "In the Land of Saints and Sinners" where a rural small town is terrorized that hasn't been a victim of this war...until now.

Ireland, 1970's. Eager to leave his dark past behind, Finbar Murphy (Liam Neeson) leads a quiet life in the remote coastal town of Glencolmcille, far from the political violence that grips the rest of the country. But when a menacing crew of terrorists arrive, including Curtis June (Desmond Eastwood), Conan McGrath (Conor MacNeill) and Seamus McKenna (Seamus O'Hara), all led by a ruthless woman named Doirean McCann (Kerry Condon), Finbar is drawn into an increasingly vicious game of cat and mouse, forcing him to choose between exposing his secret identity or defending his friends and neighbors. 

Others to round out the cast are Ciaran Hinds as Vincent O'Shea, Jack Gleeson as Kevin Lynch, Colm Meaney as Robert McQue, Niamh Cusack as Rita Quinn, Anne Brogan as Josie McQue and Sarah Greene as Sinead Dougan.

This was directed with such grit and soberness by Robert Lorenz ("Trouble with the Curve" '12, "The Marksman" '21). Even though this filmmaker doesn't have a tremendous amount of experience under his belt, what he has helmed has been quality. The emotions he was able to extract from his actors, whether playing a good or evil role, was astounding. If you can appreciate and respect this director's work, his "Unabomb" is in pre production. It was equally well written by Mark Michael McNally (two shorts) and Terry Loane ("Mickyed and Me" '04, "Living the Dream" '07). Not sure why Loane didn't receive first billing for writing considering he has more of the experience--maybe he wanted to give McNally some help toward future work. If I was to akin this film to any other, it would probably be that of Kenneth Branagh's "Belfast" '21, which involves the same time period about the war in Northern Ireland. The stories were completely different, however, the soberness and photography were similar.  The conciseness, cohesiveness and staging were consummate in this as was the photography by the incomparable Tom Stern afc/asc, who had done a tremendous amount of work for Clint Eastwood. 

Certainly if you are a Neeson fan, you'll love this considering this is, by far, one of his best. Everyone had an Irish brogue in this film, whether they were Irish or not, which gives it that much more of a realistic tone. Neeson, being Irish, had no problem with a brogue. It is an interesting film replete with fine directing, writing, photography and acting.

Out of 4 Stars: 4                                        Rated: R                                              106mins.