Browse: Home / Film on the Internet: RONIN (1998) on Amazon Prime

Menu

Skip to content
  • Home
  • Who We Are
  • About
  • Privacy
  • Contact Us
  • Login

The-SoluteLogo

A Film Site By Lovers of Film

Menu

Skip to content
  • Features
  • Reviews
  • Long Reviews
  • News
  • Articles and Opinions
  • Other Media
  • Disney Byways: THE DEVIL AND MAX DEVLIN
  • Flashback Comics Rack: Highlights of February 1981
  • The Friday Article Roundup: Your Friendly Neighborhood FAR
  • Flashback Comics Rack: Highlights of January 1981
  • Taco Break: Your Lucky Stars

Film on the Internet: RONIN (1998) on Amazon Prime

Posted By Grant Nebel ("wallflower") on April 25, 2016 in News | 78 Responses

Like Sneakers, Ronin feels like a 1970s movie that somehow got made in the 1990s.  The plot of former spies banding together as mercenaries for a job is explicitly post-Cold War, but the stoicism of the characters and performances (by Robert de Niro, Jonathan Pryce, Jean Reno, Stellan Skarsgård, Natascha McElhone, Michel Lonsdale, Skipp Sudduth, and Sean Bean), the efficiency of the plot (featuring a pure MacGuffin in the form of a suitcase) and script (rewritten by David Mamet as “Richard Weisz,” who definitely learned some things here that he would use in making Heist and Spartan), and most of all the great scene-by-scene direction from John Frankenheimer all make this feel like it belongs on a shelf next to The French Connection, The Parallax View, and The Day of the Jackal.

Defying what was commercial then (as a compare-‘n’-contrast, note that Armageddon came out a few months before this), Ronin gives us the pleasures of the small details, the tradecraft of both spies and filmmakers: scoping out a meeting place in the nearly silent opening; characters bantering with and threatening each other (“course I’m scared, you think I’m reluctant because I’m happy?”); getting something done with the smallest explosion (and exposition) possible; using not just the frame but the entire space to convey the maximum amount of information, and the actors doing the same thing with their faces and voices.  (Watch for Skarsgård’s last moment, one of the great beats of nonverbal acting.)  Like actual spies, Ronin does its job without any fuss and goes home.

Oh yeah, there are a couple of the greatest car chases ever here too, although I enjoy what deNiro can do with a cup of coffee even more.  Ronin streams free on Amazon Prime.

Posted in News | Tagged David Mamet, Film on the Television, Jean Reno, John Frankenheimer, Jonathan Pryce, Natascha McElhone, Ownage, Robert de Niro, Ronin, Stellan Skarsgard

About the Author

luzzaschi27@aol.com'

Grant Nebel (“wallflower”)

A Silver Age (2007) commenter from the AV Club who crossed over to the Dissolve at its inception in 2013. You can follow his writings here and in the comment section at The Dissolve, and his music on his Soundcloud channel (see any Soundtracking here for that).

Related Posts

Dad to the Bone: James Williams on the JOHN WICK series→

Film on the Internet: THE VERDICT→

Film on the Internet: Lydia Lomeli on KILL BILL VOL. 2→

Year of the Month: Miller on HARD TIMES→

  • Comments
  • Popular
  • Most Recent
  • j*****@yahoo.com'
    mr_apollo on Year of the Month: Mon OncleWonderful piece, Sam. It's made…
  • j*****@yahoo.com'
    mr_apollo on Year of the Month: Mon OncleFellow heretic here. I've never…
  • n***********@gmail.com'
    Ruck Cohlchez on Film on the Internet: AN AMERICAN CRIMEI wouldn't have called it…
  • j***********@gmail.com'
    Son of Griff on LIFE ITSELFGlad to hear back from…
  • n*********@gmail.com'
    Jake Gittes on Film on the Internet: AN AMERICAN CRIMEThis is the single most…
  • “The End” of SAVAGES

    34605 views / Posted November 10, 2014
  • What the fuck did I just watch? SPHERE

    27685 views / Posted March 19, 2015
  • Gordon with Mr. Looper

    Attention Must Be Paid: Will Lee

    26503 views / Posted January 7, 2023
  • The Untalented Mr. Ripley: The Craft of Standup Comedy and the Non-Comedy of TOM MYERS

    25665 views / Posted June 26, 2018
  • Scenic Routes: SHOWGIRLS (1995)

    20355 views / Posted November 20, 2014
  • You know, for kids?

    Disney Byways: THE DEVIL AND MAX DEVLIN

    June 9, 2023 / Gillianren
  • Flashback Comics Rack: Highlights of February 1981

    June 9, 2023 / Sam "Burgundy Suit" Scott
  • I'll save you thiiiiiis much.

    The Friday Article Roundup: Your Friendly Neighborhood FAR

    June 9, 2023 / The Ploughman
  • Flashback Comics Rack: Highlights of January 1981

    June 8, 2023 / Sam "Burgundy Suit" Scott
  • Don't know why the caption "The First Movie Review" is not included in this still.

    Taco Break: Your Lucky Stars

    June 8, 2023 / The Ploughman

Last Tweets

    ©2014 - 2016 The-Solute | Hosted, Developed and Maintained by Bellingham WP LogoBellinghamWP.com.

    Menu

    • Home
    • Who We Are
    • About
    • Privacy
    • Contact Us
    • Login
    Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site!