Ronin (1998)

John Frankenheimer had been something of a Hollywood legend in the 1960s, responsible for The Manchurian Candidate (1962) and the genuinely tense Seconds (1966), but the decades between had been unkind to him, and Ronin arrived after a long stretch of unremarkable television work and the catastrophic critical reception of The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996). It was, in effect, a late-career rehabilitation. Shot largely on location in France, the film was scripted by David Mamet (under the pseudonym Richard Weisz) and J.D. Zeik, and its post-Cold War setting, with loyalties dissolved and mercenaries drifting without a cause, reflected a genuine anxiety about a newly borderless Europe in the late 1990s.

Ronin is a sleek, stylish European thriller that feels like a love letter to 90s spy cinema. It's cool, grounded, and built on tension rather than CGI. Directed by John Frankenheimer, it’s got Robert De Niro as an ex-CIA operative, Sean Bean at his most nervously charming, and a team of mercenaries chasing a mysterious briefcase across France and Spain. The plot’s solid (spies, double-crosses, shifting loyalties) but it’s not about the destination. It’s about the drive. Literally. The car chases are legendary: practical, fast, shot with real precision, and still some of the best ever put on film. The cast is stacked with character actors doing what they do best. De Niro brings that quiet, weathered intensity, Bean is a delightfully twitchy wildcard, and Jonathan Pryce, Stellan Skarsgård, and Natascha McElhone all add depth and intrigue. The dialogue’s a bit clunky at times, and yeah, it gets a little hammy, especially in the final act, where allegiances shift like the wind and everyone starts shouting about honour. But you forgive it because the mood is so strong: rainy streets, smoky cafés, that killer French jazz soundtrack. It’s not flawless, and it doesn’t reinvent the genre. But as a smart, action-packed thriller with real weight and atmosphere it holds up beautifully. Cool, confident, and built for fans who like their spies world-weary and their cars manual.

Rating: ★★★★  | Year: 1998  | Watched: 2025-09-09

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