Ronin Movie Review 1998

What a cast! What a director! What a disappointment! Okay, so it's not that bad--the scenery's spectacular (the action takes place between Paris and Nice) and there are some amazing car chases. But, they go on much too long and the story's less than involving. Sam (De Niro) is a world-weary, possibly ex-spy who gets involved with several international players (including Reno, Skarsgard, and Bean) to do a job for tough Irish lass Deirdre (McElhone). She's fronting (for the violent Pryce) a project to retrieve a mysterious suitcase from some Russian bad guys. One of the best things the film's got going for it is the wary buddy relationship that builds between De Niro and Reno. Title refers to a Japanese legend concerning 47 masterless samurai. Richard Weisz is the pseudonym for a rewriting David Mamet.

Distribution

MGM Home Entertainment, 2500 Broadway, Santa Monica, CA 90404-6061, Phone: (310)449-3000, Fax: (310)449-3100, URL: http://www.mgmhomevideo.com, Remarks: Does not handle retail queries from consumers; contact your local video distributor.

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 118 minutes.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Adventure Drama, Paris, Spies & Espionage, Mercenaries

Screenplay

David Mamet, J.D. Zeik

Cast

Robert De Niro, Jean Reno, Stellan Skarsgard, Natascha (Natasha) McElhone, Jonathan Pryce, Skipp (Robert L.) Sudduth, Michael (Michel) Lonsdale, Sean Bean, Jan Triska, Feodor Atkine, Bernard Bloch, Katarina Witt

Cinematography

Robert Fraisse

Director

John Frankenheimer

Music

Elia Cmiral

Producer

Jr. Frank Mancuso, Paul Kelmenson, FGM Entertainment, United Artists