David R. Walker

Archive for March 11th, 2024

The Bricklayer

Director: Renny Harlin

Cast: Aaron Eckhart, Nina Dobrev, Clifton Collins Jr, Tim Blake Nelson, Ifenesh Hadera, Ori Pfeffer

Running Time: 1 hour, 50 minutes

Film Rating: 6.5 out of 10

Millennium Media the film production company behind the Expendables franchise, delivers another paint by numbers action film this time with strong man Aaron Eckhart as the spy hero Steve Vail as the Philadelphia based “Bricklayer” in the new Renny Harlin directed film The Bricklayer also starring Nina Dobrev as Kate Bannon and the superb character actor Tim Blake Nelson (Nightmare Alley) as their CIA director O’Malley.

The Bricklayer is set in Thelassoniki in Greece and features Bannon and Vail as two completely different CIA operative who arrive in Greek port city to hunt the elusive villain Victor Radek, flamboyantly played by Clifton Collins Jr sporting a black bowler hat. Radek is seeking revenge against the American spy agency based in Langley, Virginia as he blames them for the death of his wife and child so he is executing certain key journalists as part of a larger strategy to assassinate the Greek deputy foreign minister.

Before the tough Vail and the rookie Bannon can make inroads in locating Radek they first have to deal with a Greek gangster Denis Stefanopoulos played complete with flashy suits and gold chains by Israeli actor Ori Pfeffer (Hacksaw Ridge, The Hitman’s Bodyguard).

Aaron Eckhart is having an interesting career having starred in both high profile films like Christopher Nolan’s the Batman Trilogy and in some quirky American films like Thank You for Smoking to Oscar winning films like Erin Brokovich, but he appears to be going the same route as Scottish star and action hero Gerard Butler which will always pay the bills and keep audiences satisfied.

The Bricklayer does not have a clear storyline but the action is solid, a sort of medium budget spy film and is saved by a salvageable onscreen chemistry between the two lead stars. Bulgarian actress Nina Dobrev (The Perks of Being a Wallflower, XXX: The Return of Xander Cage) holds her own as the female heroine and possible love interest although in The Bricklayer the script focuses more on the action and fighting sequences than any romance.

Capote star Clifton Collins Jr is perfect as the duplicitous villain Radek and Tim Blake Nelson has the best lines in the film as the stroppy non-nonsense CIA director O’Malley.

If audiences enjoy a great action film set in Greece, then The Bricklayer is recommended viewing and proves that the 56 year old actor Aaron Eckhart can hold his own as muscular action star.

The Bricklayer gets a film rating of 6.5 out of 10 and won’t win any awards except some for corny images of American patriotism. It’s an entertaining action film which what the Los Angeles based Production Company Millennium Media always delivers.