Liam Neeson has starred in so many Taken-esque films since the 2008 film Taken came out that Taken’s “particular set of skills” are beginning to appear less and less like Taken. Despite his declaration in 2021 that he had discreetly left the “geriaction” genre, he managed to produce many additional works. To be clear, The Land of Saints and Sinners is not simply another schlocky B-movie about a grumpy man seeking retribution. Neeson plays a character with specific attributes that make him a nightmare for people like you.
It’s a welcome change of pace to see the seasoned actor give a character some depth instead of his signature action autopilot. As a prolific hitman evaluating his life and considering whether there is still time to make apologies, he is compelling enough to dwell on a violent past with remorse. The film’s director, Robert Lorenz, was actually a longtime producer for Clint Eastwood. It’s a well-worn theme that calls to mind Westerns like Unforgiven and gangster flicks like Road To Perdition. While In The Land Of Saints And Sinners rarely reaches those heights, it has a thematic clarity that distinguishes it from Neeson’s more recent bargain-basement trends.
Even now, Liam Neeson is as tough and trustworthy as ever.
The film opens with a heart-stopping scene involving a vehicle bomb that kills three children. The story takes place in Ireland during one of its most violent periods. This kind of film may not be the ideal way to address the suffering caused by The Troubles; the intricacy of Ireland’s sectarian politics is only hinted at, and the IRA characters are portrayed fairly cartoonishly, with a lot of profanity and smoking, as would be expected of a villain. But the setting is not incidental; rather than attempting political or historical fiction, it looks to make a larger point about the poisonous nature of cyclical and generational violence and its corrosive effect on a community (Neeson’s character, by contrast, is almost grandfatherly, with a flat cap and a pipe).
It also makes the most of its location, with the typical scenery—windswept clifftops, dry stone walls, rolling fields—bolstered by some good performances, even though it isn’t particularly insightful on Irish history. It’s a pleasure to watch actors like Kerry Condon, Ciarán Hinds, and Colm Meaney take time out from their regular roles as characters with American accents to visit their homeland. Unexpectedly, Jack Gleeson, who was practically unrecognizable from his reign on the Iron Throne as Joffrey Baratheon, turns into Finbar’s criminal protégé in a brilliantly nasty role. Neeson, who remains as tough and trustworthy as ever, is at the center of it all and manages to elevate this kind of material while making it appear effortless.