Plot: The movie begins with a written definition of what a Ronin is. It happens to be a masterless Samurai warrior. That becomes important because we see the character of Sam (De Niro), a skilled bodyman, currently in Paris, he has been hired by a pretty female someone with an Irish accent to do a little work for her. He is one of a new group of men recruited by Dierdre (McElhone).

The first mission is to make payment for some guns. It goes from SNAFU, when Sam realizes the people he is with are amateurs at this kind of thing, to FUBAR when they don’t take his advice and the whole thing turns into an ambush. Only the skills of Sam allow them to get away.

The next mission is to steal a mysterious aluminum case. Uneasy about the quality of the people involved in planning the action, Sam takes over the planning. After some minor difficulty, the plan comes off but a member of the team doublecrosses them, re-stealing the case.

The Good: John Frankenheimer is a great director and can do action films well and this is no exception. It has a good plot and story and the action scenes are really great. Check out Seconds some day.

Being the jaded alcohol dependent movie reviewer that I am, I have this natural tendency to think I’ve seen it all. The action scenes in this movie probably have been done before but never this well.

The best part of the movie, I thought, was the characters. I love movies that give more than they have to. It’s easy to have an action film with undeveloped characters, it’s a challenge to add depth to them. This movie has that in the character of Sam.

The Bad: There were still some shaky parts in the story, but judge for yourself.

Bottom Line: Great action film. Probably best of the 1998.

Rating: 5 cocktails, for a smart action film.