In the Land of Saints and Sinners Reviews (original) (raw)

Summary In a remote Irish village, a damaged Finbar is forced to fight for redemption after a lifetime of sins, but what price is he willing to pay? In the land of saints and sinners, some sins can't be buried.

My Score

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Condon is utterly captivating as a brutal villain, and no one plays a valiantly chagrined hero like Neeson, sorrowful and suffering. In the “Neeson skills” canon, In the Land of Saints and Sinners proves to be a gem, the performances elevating a enjoyably pulpy thriller.

The acting, the setting and a feeling for the time period make “In the Land of Saints and Sinners” more than the usual action movie thrill ride, though it’s that too. That combination of elements makes this one of Neeson’s best movies of the past few years.

This is a really great film. It surprised me but it’s nice to see Neeson doing something good. It seems rare these days.

I was expecting another version of Taken as is Liam’s way of late but found this a more subtle and thoughtful offering from the wee big man.

As movies about a Liam Neeson character marinating in regrets before punching and shooting his way out of immediate danger go, this is a pretty good one, by which I mean at one point Neeson smokes a pipe while driving a car. It’s also Lorenz’s best as a director by a fair margin, a movie that feels inspired by Eastwood and old Westerns, but not beholden to them.

In the Land of Saints and Sinners is a clear, unqualified improvement over such recent Neeson-led thrillers like Retribution and Blacklight. And, although one can argue that his once-prodigious talents are wasted in cash-grab projects of this sort, at least the movie provides 90 minutes of entertainment rather than turning into a by-the-numbers slog.

A solid, old-fashioned Irish Western about what it means to hang up your rifle. It isn’t especially deep, but it’s good to see Liam Neeson find some character depth among the usual shooting and grumbling.

This is the definition of a B movie; competent, easy to follow, and almost instantly forgettable.

There’s bits and pieces of entertaining stuff here, a few sharp lines and a gonzo final shootout, but the overall tone of cliche is a bit wearing, correctly signalled in the title, which appears to misremember the phrase “saints and scholars”.

(Mauro Lanari) Simone Emiliani has well grasped the structure of the film metamorphically composed of "three souls". It begins by re-locating Liam in the historical context of Ireland ("Michael Collins", Neil Jordan '96), and there is a fear that it might be yet another portrayal of the Irish Troubles, the latest cinematic example being Branagh's recent "Belfast" (2021). Later on, it enters the worn genre of the "Neeson-revenge" (Raffaele Meale) or "geriaction" (John Nugent), a "Taken" set in a coastal town in Donegal. The last part lands on a middle ground between a twilight western (by now the expression is a pleonasm) by Eastwood, with whom Robert Lorenz collaborated as producer, assistant director and director, and Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment". The epilogue in the church is the most valid and moving point. It may seem like Benton or Ferrara, but it comes directly from the great Russian novelist: the awareness of the hitherto unbridged gap between the human all-too-human justice and the One of "another World". For those seeking a pulp rehash of Beckett in the land of St. Patrick and the shamrock, there is McDonagh's "The Banshees of Inisherin" (2022).

This film is a spaghetti western transplanted to rural Ireland during the Time of Troubles. A local hit man runs afoul of an IRA group on the run, propelling the two factions toward a showdown. There was great character development and lots of authentic period details, with satisfying cultural flavor. Should appeal to anyone who enjoys crime thrillers mixed in with their travelogues.

Accents can be a bit much in parts. Not the usual run of the mill o.p hero movie which is a nice change of pace. Enjoyable.

Liam Neeson está mais apra drama do que apra ação aqui, sendo que a ação ao explodir em tela ao final, é bem ruinzinha, não empolga. Os conflitos civis entre Irlanda e Inglaterra, bem como a questão de grupos separatistas é muito mal explorada, serva mais para situar quase que de forma mecanicista os grupos. O roteiro pelo menos não complica, não é cheio de reviravoltas absurdas, então parte da história é crível.

Production Company Facing East Entertainment, Jumpy Cow Pictures, London Town Films, Saga Film, Bleiberg Entertainment, Davis-Films, Facing East Entertainment Singapore, Great Point Media, Merlin Films, Prodigal Films

Release Date Mar 29, 2024

Duration 1 h 46 m

Rating R

Tagline Haunted by sin. Hunted by sinners.