Based on a true story. We see those words preceding a lot of films these days. It's almost as if we've started to chronicle our big moments via the cinema. If a story is tragic enough or portrays outstanding bravery or courage, you can expect it to eventually get a feature film. I can almost predict the big films of 2020 or so just by looking at the headlines in 2017. It's become a little overdone for my tastes and can often appear exploitive in nature. These films are often devoid of originality. Of course they are. They're based on something that real life has already written. I've seen bumper stickers that say "God is my co-pilot". I'm waiting for him to get some screenplay credit or a chair in the writer's room. Of course, he'd be expected to start paying dues to the Writer's Guild. There's also the added problem that the audience already knows how the film is going to end. Ron Howard faced the same problem when he directed Apollo 13. He managed to keep us on the edge of our seats anyway. Only the Brave isn't going to keep you on the edge of your seat. But it will sneak up on you. I knew how it was going to end, but that didn't stop director Joseph Kosinski from finding a way to blindside me anyway. It's a trick Houdini would have been proud of. How did he do that? Now, that would be telling.

Eric Marsh (Brolin) is the superintendant of Crew 7 in Prescott, Arizona. They are a team of firefighters, but they aren't the usual "structure" crew. They fight wildfires. It has been Marsh's dream that his team become certified as Hot Shots. The term means that they can actually fight these blazing demons from the front lines. Without the certification they are forced to act as support and work the "back-end" of the fire by digging trenches, clearing debris, and monitoring progress. The town is behind him, from the mayor to the fire chief, Duane Steinbrink (Bridges). If they can pull it off, they will become the first municipal fire crew to earn the distinction. They are currently a couple of men short.

When I first heard about The Snowman, this was a movie that got me excited, that we could possibly have a great thriller to look forward to. At one point Martin Scorsese was attached to direct the film. He eventually backed out of the project, though he is still credited as an executive producer for the film. To step in for the directing duties, Tomas Alfredson got the call, and it’s his involvement that initially got me excited. Back in 2008 Alfredson directed Let the Right One In, which I consider to be one of the greatest horror films to be released in decades. It’s hard for some directors to meet expectations when their first films are such a success. Many may not have heard of Let the Right One In because of it being a foreign film that had a small release in the states, but the remake Let Me In (which he didn’t direct) sure made an impact. Then with the lackluster success of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy I was beginning to wonder if possibly he had only just gotten lucky and that he perhaps wasn’t the success I’d imagine he would be. Now it isn’t fair to place the success or failure of a film upon one person when there are so many others involved in the making of a film, but when it fails, someone has to be blamed.  I come out saying this because The Snowman isn’t just a bad film; it is an epic disaster like nothing I have seen before.

The film was adapted from a bestselling mystery novel by Jo Nesbo. Personally I’ve never read the book, but from what I understand the book was to be the start of a series, which would mean the film was possibly meant to be a springboard for a franchise.  There is no possibility for this to happen, though thankfully we’re in a time where Hollywood has enjoyed rebooting films that don’t need the reboot treatment. Perhaps this story can be given a second chance to succeed. Alfredson has come out and publically announced that perhaps 15% of the script was never even shot due to time and budget constraints.  Is he simply trying to cover his own backside? That is most likely the case, but as I watched this jumbled mess I found myself believing him, because there are simply points in the story that make no sense, and you have to imagine the script, while adapting the book had to already cut away story points.

Action heroes are very much like sports superstars. So much of what they do is tied to their physical ability, and eventually time catches up to them. For sports figures they either try and accept it and go out on top, or they taint their legend by trying to hang on. The same can be said for action heroes, except there is a third alternative. Some action movie actors learn to adapt their material to their current skill level. Clint Eastwood, while not really an action star, was known for physical roles. He found a way to age quite well on screen with films like Unforgiven and Gran Torino. Jackie Chan appears to have learned that lesson, and The Foreigner, while not in the same stratosphere as Clint's last staring efforts, does a good job of redefining the actor and giving him something he can do well going forward. With a different kind of smoke and mirrors than the wirework and stunt choreography of Chan's prime years, this is a film you will find enjoyable and maybe walk away seeing less than you believed you saw.

The film isn't exactly original. You can take any of a dozen Charles Bronson films and fill in some gaps to get the plot of The Foreigner. Jackie Chan plays Quan. He came to England after the Vietnam War and now owns a quiet little restaurant. His daughter ends up a casualty in a terrorist attack by a new generation of the IRA. The loss sends him into a deep depression made worse by the lack of answers to the violent attack. Pierce Brosnan delivers an incredible performance as Liam Hennessy. Liam is a former leader of the IRA who has now found new life and a kind of redemption as an official liaison between the British Government and his former brothers in the movement. His efforts have delivered 19 years of peace that is suddenly threatened by this bold attack. Liam finds himself caught in the middle of the government and his allegiance to his old comrades. It's about to get much worse for Liam. Quan has identified him as the man who can get the names of the people who killed his daughter, and he sets out as a one-man army to "convince" Liam to provide that information. Quan can't get revenge on the men responsible (yet), so he concentrates his efforts on Liam. It turns out Quan once led a not-so-quiet life once and has some pretty serious skills.