The Foreigner (4 Stars)

This is the second time in three days that I've watched a random film on television. By random I mean that it was decided at short notice. It's a film that I'd watched before, so I knew it would be good.

The film shows a bombing in central London by a group calling itself the Authentic IRA. It takes place in 2017, nineteen years after the Good Friday Agreement that created a truce between the British government and the IRA. (I know that's a simplification, but it's all that's relevant to the film). The film shows how the ill feelings of the IRA are still simmering beneath the surface. Nineteen years is a short time, and many of the former fighters still want revenge. Pierce Brosnan plays Liam Hennessy, a former IRA leader who has now become the Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister. He's a respectable politician for Sinn Fein, but can a former terrorist ever change his ways? Hennessy still has contacts with his ex-colleagues, many of whom have extremist viewpoints. Hennessy might not know who the bombers are, but he has friends who know them.

Jackie Chan plays Ngoc Minh Quan, a Chinese restaurant owner whose daughter is killed in the bomb blast. He doesn't think the police are doing enough to find the culprits, so he starts his own investigations. As a former elite soldier, he's able to fight against the various factions of the IRA to solve the crime. This brings him into direct confrontation with Hennessy.

This is an exciting political action thriller. If anything, I appreciate it more after watching it a second time.

Success Rate:  + 1.0

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