Still carrying shrapnel in his leg from the early 1990s Bosnian War, Ben Ford (Robert DeNiro) had gone into the wilderness to live and to forget about his time in that war. Later, Kovac (John Travolta) meets Ford and they bond. That is, until Kovac announces his true intentions. Kovac was also in that war. Oh, oh!
This is perhaps the best cat and mouse movie I have seen in a long while. Ford and Kovac take turns at being the cat and then the mouse. This is not meant to be comical, as this is serious business, but cat and mouse is what we have. And, it all worked. At times, Kovac could have easily killed Ford, but didn't. Why?
John Travolta, as Kovac, uses a Serbian accent and we get used to it as he does a good job of it. Both Travolta and DeNiro are in their elements in the movie. Oscars? Hmmm.. .. maybe.
From time to time, we are shown , I believe, scenes from the actual Bosnian war and they are not easy to see. Also, this is not an easy movie to watch, because there is torture involved, some quite bloody too. I cringed and had to look away more often than I would care to admit. It was like I was there. Oh, the horror.
Good pacing throughout and some exciting action scenes as well. Excellent cinematography including some live and still photography of landscapes - that had that haunting look and feel - when the credits roll. And, the Johnny Cash song (Don't Take Your Guns to Town) played a lot in the beginning was spot on.
This is the story of the effects of that war on some who were there. (9/10)
Violence: Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Torture: Yes. Bloody Gore: Yes. Language: Yes.
This is perhaps the best cat and mouse movie I have seen in a long while. Ford and Kovac take turns at being the cat and then the mouse. This is not meant to be comical, as this is serious business, but cat and mouse is what we have. And, it all worked. At times, Kovac could have easily killed Ford, but didn't. Why?
John Travolta, as Kovac, uses a Serbian accent and we get used to it as he does a good job of it. Both Travolta and DeNiro are in their elements in the movie. Oscars? Hmmm.. .. maybe.
From time to time, we are shown , I believe, scenes from the actual Bosnian war and they are not easy to see. Also, this is not an easy movie to watch, because there is torture involved, some quite bloody too. I cringed and had to look away more often than I would care to admit. It was like I was there. Oh, the horror.
Good pacing throughout and some exciting action scenes as well. Excellent cinematography including some live and still photography of landscapes - that had that haunting look and feel - when the credits roll. And, the Johnny Cash song (Don't Take Your Guns to Town) played a lot in the beginning was spot on.
This is the story of the effects of that war on some who were there. (9/10)
Violence: Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Torture: Yes. Bloody Gore: Yes. Language: Yes.