What’s with the trend of action films being named after boring occupations? “The Transporter”, “The Mechanic”, more recently “The Beekeeper” – and now “The Bricklayer” is in town.
Starring Aaron Eckhart and directed by Renny Harlin (“Die Hard 2”), the film is based on the novel of the same name by Noah Boyd.
Steve Vail (Eckhart) is introduced as your run-of-the-mill bricklayer with a penchant for classical jazz; but he’s actually a hardened, disillusioned former CIA field agent who left his job after growing tired of it all.
When his old friend and ex-colleague, Victor Radek (Clifton Collins Jr), murders multiple journalists critical of the CIA’s operations overseas and pins it on the agency, Vail is brought back into the fold to locate him.
Paired with junior agent Kate Bannon (Nina Dobrev), the duo heads off to Greece, where the last murder had taken place. From there, expect the standard guns, car chases and explosions – the usual action-film fodder.
Eckhart is fairly solid as the jaded operative who can still kick butt when needed. The “Dark Knight” actor’s physical training for the role pays off here, as he’s able to pull off the action set pieces with the deftness and brutality of someone younger than his 56 years.
His onscreen counterpart, Dobrev is passable as his sidekick, though her character – a stickler for the rules and Vail’s polar opposite – is frankly a drag for someone of her age.
Thankfully, the “Vampire Diaries” alumna has the charisma and screen presence to make Kate somewhat likable despite all her shortcomings.
As the villain, Collins Jr is not terrible, even if his motivation for targeting the CIA isn’t entirely original: a mission gone awry results in his family being killed.
He might be a sympathetic character on paper, but he’s not given enough screen time to be fleshed out for you to feel for him one way or the other.
The same, alas, can be said for the leads: they are two-dimensional, with no depth or nuance, which effectively renders the overall movie undistinguishable.
Their oil-and-water chemistry, though, is decent, and the film does viewers a service by not forcing a romance between them.
As for the action, director Harlin shows his skill in creating spectacular action sequences, whether it’s on a rooftop during one of Vail’s bricklaying jobs, or an assassination attempt at the film’s climax.
But despite the filmmaker’s attempts at infusing grit and mayhem into the movie, it ultimately falls into a standard mould and is content with ticking the boxes, including predictable double crosses and questionable decisions from the characters.
Overall, despite some capable performances, “The Bricklayer” is a middling film with a basic foundation, with not nearly enough to cement it into a memorable action flick.
As of press time, ‘The Bricklayer’ is screening in cinemas nationwide.