THE MARKSMAN
US, 2021, 108 minutes, Colour.
Liam Neeson, Jacob Perez, Juan Pablo Raba, Katheryn Winick.
Directed by Robert Lorenz.
Once upon a time, the go-to stars for an action show tended to be the martial arts champions. For the last 12 years, it has been Liam Neeson, averaging an action show for a year (with Denzel Washington looking as if he is the next competitor!). Think the Taken series, Non-stop, Cold Play¦ During lockdown in the United States, with limited screenings, two of Liam Neeson's action show topped the box office, The Honest Thief and this one, The Marksman.
We are introduced to the Mexican cartels. Ruthless, hidden bosses issuing death sentences, underlings (forced into working for the cartels since they were children), ordered to carry out the sentences. Here, they pursue a mother and her young son, Miguel, as vengeance for an uncle stealing from the cartel. And they pursue them to the US border, mother and son finding a break on the fence, but a shootout…
Because, Liam Neeson is Jim, as an Arizona ranger at the border and there he is, a marksman, calling Border patrol, but shooting, the mother wounded. And she bequeaths her son to the marksman.
So, the setting for a drama because Jim is a widower, his wife dying the year before from cancer, in debt, the bank wanting to foreclose on his property. And Jim is on the border, with the boy, handing him into his stepdaughter who works on the border police, changing his mind, gathering his possessions, slipping the boy out from custody, and turning this story into a road film, driving across the US to deliver the boy to some relatives in Chicago.
That is the nice part. Although Miguel does not have time to grieve and deal with such violence, suspicious of Jim, but, and we enjoy this, the boy mellowing, Jim sheltering him, feeding him, telling him stories about top hotdogs with mustard in Chicago, driving.
The not so nice part, but the exciting part for the audience, is that Jim has shot the posse leaders brother and he is out for revenge, interestingly drawing on the technology resources of the cartel, identifying where Jim has used his credit card… So, a pursuit, and the pursuer is vicious, killing witnesses along the way, in service stations, are corrupt policeman who has held the two up but has failed to stop them, manager of a motel from which the to escape.
Since Jim has been a Marine and has skills as a marksman, he also has strategies and the last part of the film, the showdown, involves some manoeuvres with vehicles, Jim is a sniper in a local farm, Miguel having to help, and, satisfyingly for our emotional response, Jim delivering him to his relatives.
But, Jim has been wounded, gets on a Chicago bus and the final credits come up. And the thought occurs, survival and sequel?
1. The title? The Marine? Weapons, accuracy, tactics?
2. The settings in Mexico, the town, homes, the cartels? Arizona, the open plains? Towns, border offices? On the road, the variety of locations across America, Chicago? The musical score?
3. The cartels, power, violence, ruthlessness? The heads, the underlings? People forced into membership of the cartels and working for them? Vengeance?
4. Miguel, happy, home from school, the phone call, his uncle, having to leave, the uncle tortured and hanging? Getting to the border, the guide, the car in pursuit, the break in the wire, getting through? Jim and his watching, phoning the border patrol? The confrontation, the shooting, Miguel's mother shot, bequeathing her son, the money in the bag? Her death? Jim taking Miguel? His unwillingness? Not having time to grieve?
5. Jim, his ranch, financial difficulties, the agent coming, the threat of sale, memories of his dead wife, her cancer, payments? Sarah, her bond with Jim, her mother?
6. Jim, the boy, his decision, packing up, leaving his house? Getting the boy out of isolation? Driving away, the plan to go to Chicago? His phone calls to Sarah, her urging him back?
7. The drive across the country, interactions with Miguel, his speaking English? The various stops, buying the atlas, Miguel marking it, stopping for the petrol, the engine, the old man and repairing it? The night at the motel?
8. Miguel, his age, his knowledge about what happened, reluctant, Jim urging him to eat? Stories about Chicago and hot dogs? His bond with Jim's dog?
9. Mauricio, the shootout, the death of his brother getting across the border, the corrupt US police paid off at the border? The network, the technological savvy, tracking Jim with his credit card? The group in pursuit? Jim pulled over by the policeman, in the pay of the cartel, taking the guns, the fight, Jim and Miguel escaping? Mauricio catching up, the shooting of the policeman? The raid on the motel, the killing of Jim’s dog, the two hiding? Finding the mark on the atlas? The pursuit? Look out on the bridge, the information?
10. Jim, going on the side road, the tactic of blocking the road, the cartel car and its crash, the pursuit on foot, Jim and Miguel hiding at the farm? Jim and his Marine tactics, the sniper, Miguel and the false shot, his being taken, the confrontation with Morrissey oh, the issue of the military medal, Mauricio giving it back, the fight, the shooting, Jim leaving him with the gun, the shot?
11. Hitchhiking to Chicago, Jim delivering McGill?, giving him the medal? Jim, stabbed by Mauricio, getting on the bus? The ending?
12. The religious motifs throughout the film, the opening profile of the statue of Jesus, the crucifix, rosary, the church and the funeral ritual, the discussions about heaven?
