The Locksmith, 2023.
Directed by Nicolas Harvard.
Starring Ryan Phillippe, Kate Bosworth, Ving Rhames, Jeffrey Nordling, Gabriela Quezada, Madeleine Guilbot, Charlie Weber, Kaylee Bryant, Noel Gugliemi, Bourke Floyd, Livia Treviño, Emily Rose David, and Tom Wright.
SYNOPSIS:
A thief fresh out of prison, tries to work his way back into the life of his daughter and ex-fiancé. Determined, he is forced to use the skills he has as a gifted locksmith. Things take a tumultuous turn after an unexpected disappearance.
It somehow took four screenwriters for The Locksmith, which amounts to nothing more than a bog-standard tale of crime and betrayal that, at a certain point, stops concerning itself with locksmithing to focus on generic gunplay and revenge.
Director Nicolas Harvard (who has numerous intriguing credits working as a first assistant director) and the screenwriting team of John Glosser, Blair Kroeber (who came up with the original story), Chris LaMont, and Joe Russo awkwardly drop viewers right into safe crackers Miller Graham (Ryan Phillippe) and Kevin Reyes (George Akram) are the targets of crooked detective Ian Zwick (Jeffrey Nordling), who turns on them, shoots Kevin dead, and corners Miller into lying for him before being sent off to prison for ten years.
In the present day, Miller is released and goes through the typical motions of looking to reconnect with his now-estranged partner Beth Fisher (Kate Bosworth), his young daughter Lindsay (Madeleine Guilbot), and his loyal friend Frank (Ving Rhames), also the only one who really knows what went down the day Kevin was murdered, who offers steady handyman work while encouraging the newly freed man to stay clean and levelheaded, reminding him that it will take time to regain the trust and respect of his loved ones.
There are also some conveniences at play, such as Beth rebounding in life by now working for the same police force, which will surely come into play as the truth finally unravels. Also present is a sketchy real estate mogul (Charlie Weber) requesting several digital locks for the neighborhood that he can reset whenever he wants. Ian Zwick was also promoted following busting Miller and is now set to retire with Beth about the take over his position advice, although not without a pair of hand-chosen detectives watching over her every move to ensure she doesn’t go digging too deep.
This allows a non-mystery to rise to the surface involving an unlikely string of women for prostitution that never went on to break the law again. One of those women happens to be Anna Reyes (Gabriela Quezada), who is in trouble financially and repeatedly beaten by the real estate terrorizer. Of course, she pleads Miller to perform one last crime; robbing him of $500,000 so that both of them can start new lives. Miller is a saint, and no matter how committed he is to stick to an honest life this time, he finds himself helping her out and caught up in a dangerous situation threatening his daughter’s life.
Perhaps that sounds like it could potentially be suspenseful, especially considering a veteran genre past putting in solid work despite the amateurish, cliché script. However, aside from Miller using his time to get to know his daughter by teaching her how to lockpick in between assisting her with homework and getting her dinner, there’s hardly any sleuthing and stealing here. Even the inevitable betrayers can be seen from a mile away. Kate Bosworth seems to care about her character’s detective work sincerely, and Ving Rhames makes for a likable sage and voice of reason, but there’s little character work here in a movie that also doesn’t have much excitement.
The Locksmith is competently directed, if wholly familiar and bland, which isn’t enough to feel against locking it away forever. But there’s probably a significant issue when there’s not much lockpicking and more gunplay in a film called The Locksmith.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
