THE COURIER

US, 2012, 99 minutes, Colour.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Mickey Rourke, Til Schweiger, Josie Ho, Lili Taylor, Miguel Ferrer.
Directed by Hany Abu-Assad?.
The Courier is a straight to DVD action thriller, not very well appreciated by fans.
It is a star vehicle for Jeffrey Dean Morgan who appeared in such films as The Losers as well as a number of television series. He is an interesting screen personality, even when he is being morose and reticent. And he portrays a man who is able to find anyone who searches for, is used for deliveries of money and documents. He is sought out by two men to find a character called Evil Slive, which is revealed later in the film as Elvis Lives.
The Courier pursues leads to find the villain whom the audience sees only from the back and listens to him talk and on phone calls. He is played by Mickey Rourke who has to do an Elvis impersonation, embarrassing for him and for the audience, at the end of the film.
One of the strengths of the film is the presence of Mike Margolis, strong character actor on screen and on television, as the courier’s surrogate father. Less persuasive is Josie Ho as the Chinese born pilot. Lili Taylor is a surprising addition to the plot as a grim assassin who also gives a lecture on the history of torture. She is accompanied by Miguel Ferrer as her husband and partner in killing. Another surprise is the presence of German actor Til Schweiger as one of the FBI agents.
More surprising still is the fact that the director, born in Nazareth, made the excellent film about Palestinian terrorists and suicide bombers, Paradise Now. With this introduction to Hollywood, he may have lost his chance for further filmmaking there.

1. A tough action thriller? Portrait of characters? Convoluted plot? Solution?
2. The American City locations, New Orleans, St. Louis, Las Vegas? Giving a flavour to the action?
3. Editing and pace, stunt work, musical score?
4. The title, the opening sequence, the Courier arriving, the time limits, the girl on the roller coaster, the criminals, the Courier arriving just in time, the girl falling, the Courier falling, saving her? Giving a tone to the film?
5. The Courier himself, his friendship with Eddie, godfather to the little girl, at the gym, discussions, the arrival of the two men, the case, the search, the time limit, the gun? Buying black market guns? Their later being revealed as FBI agents, wanting the Courier to lead them to Evil Slive? Eddie and his advice, contacts? His sending Anna?
6. The character of the Courier, and of information about his past, to make sense of the ending? As morose character, a loner, IT skills, finding people he searched for? Anna being sent, as pilot, as driver, his interactions with her, serious, protective, sexual? Her disappearance from the film?
7. St. Louis, the address, following the car, his going into the house, the man burning the documents, his being shot by the assassins? The assassins and their pursuit of the Courier? Las Vegas, his going to the house, their capturing him, the torture, the detail, the woman and her giving the history of torture and its methods to find the truth? His getting free, confronting them in the kitchen, killing them?
8. The page with the photos, the man in New Orleans, his hesitations, in the car with the Courier, the pursuit, giving the information, the crash?
9. The sympathetic presentation of Eddie, his wisdom, advice? Tortured and killed?
10. The threat to his goddaughter? Checking out her safety?
11. The complexities of Evil Slive? The glimpse of him from the back of his head? The phone calls? The flashbacks to his treatment of the young boy? Finally finding him in the casino, the Elvis impersonation? The confrontation with the Courier? The revelation of the relationship, the Courier’s son? The FBI agent at the end?
12. The sudden ending? How well did the film explore its themes? The complexities of the plot, difficult to follow, relationships? A film criticised by critics and audiences alike?