Double-dealing and hidden agendas abound as mercenary agent Jonathan Cold (Seagal) is hired to transport a mysterious package. Meanwhile, his former associates are out to stop him at all costs before criminal evidence is leaked.
Contrary to popular belief, Steven Seagal’s The Foreigner is not his attempt to chronicle the life and times of British guitarist Mick Jones. Now before I break out into a rendition of “Juke Box Hero,” let’s move on to the actual film.
Seagal’s first of three films released in 2003 is a direct-to-video stab at the espionage genre. He still commands enough star power to draw in impressive production standards and a decent, if unknown cast. The film even has a few genuine twists and turns to keep its audience guessing. But ultimately, The Foreigner proves to be all bluster with Seagal showing off very few, heavily-edited Aikido moves while the majority of his time is spent talking in a menacing whisper as he flounders through an intentionally confusing plot that just falls to pieces.
Somehow, Seagal will always seem more convincing as a retired special forces/CIA type as he did in his earlier films. Older and with less pep in his step, Seagal plays the title character, an active rogue agent also known as Jonathan Cold. The humdrum premise of being hired to carry a secret package by his suave employer in Paris to Warsaw, Poland brings the expected results. His associates turn on him in an effort to claim the package and the people he is supposed to deliver the package to have their own agenda. This all amounts to Seagal doing a lot of running about between Warsaw and Paris, taking on hitmen, and blowing stuff up. Trying to explain the plot further would only lead to confusion or boredom. It suffices to state that things only get more convoluted right up to the anticlimactic ending.
The beauty of an action flick is that if their is enough excitement onscreen, it can often distract the viewer from bad acting or a bad story. This film actually has decent acting, especially with newcomer Jeffrey Pierce giving a colorful performance as a cold-blooded and relentless professional killer who becomes Seagal’s main foil. In contrast, the story is a clucky attempt at building a complex and riveting thriller that just lacks any cohesion. Making matters worse is that most of the action is standard and moves too slowly to maintain any momentum. Seagal fans will lament the fact that he continues his move away from offering clearly shot and exciting martial arts action. There are a couple of scenes devoted to this, but they are chopped to pieces in the editing process. Seagal is also reduced to playing ‘paddycake’ with one foe as he did in Half Past Dead where his arms flail about in a very sloppy series of blocks. He does break out a couple of nice takedown and disarming moves. The best maneuver has him manipulating an opponent’s gun hand to point back at the man’s face with Seagal performing a little “assisted suicide.” At least the film isn’t afraid to pour on the gratuitous violence. The gunplay is competent and features some terrific, bloody squib action.
Falling far short of Seagal’s full potential, The Foreigner still has enough action and polish to be diverting for his more forgiving fans. It is also a reminder that with few Western action heroes still active or in demand, Seagal isn’t letting clumsy scripts or failure to get theatrical distribution keep him down. Perhaps a sad reflection on the state of US independent action films, but apart from Jean-Claude Van Damme’s In Hell, this is actually one of the better direct-to-video releases of 2003.
by Mark Pollard
