By: Cynthia A.

Directed by: McG

Screenplay by: Adi Hasak & Luc Besson

Story by: Luc Besson

Starring: Kevin Costner, Amber Heard, Hailee Steinfeld, Connie Nielsen, Richard Sammel, Eriq Ebouaney

Genre: Action, Thriller

In this heart pounding action-thriller, Kevin Costner is a dangerous international spy, who is determined to give up his high stakes life to finally build a closer relationship with his estranged wife and daughter, whom he’s previously kept at arm’s length to keep out of danger. But first, he must complete one last mission- even if it means juggling the two toughest assignments yet: hunting down the world’s most ruthless terrorist and looking after his teenage daughter for the first time in ten years, while his wife is out of town.

Now that was certainly better than expected.

Luc Besson, who wrote the story this movie is a part of as well as the screenplay, was able to blend together action and comedy with a heartwarming family film about a CIA agent who is trying to reconnect with his estranged daughter when he finds out that he only has 3 months, at most, to live due to a cancer that has spread through his body.

Kevin Costner plays the ex-CIA agent, and he is, as always, amazing.  Not only is he playing a dad, but he is playing the estranged father who is dealing with a teenage daughter and he’s seeking desperately to connect with his daughter, played by Hailee Steinfeld.  Of course, mom, played by Connie Nielsen, has one condition: he is not allowed to continue working; he must be done with it, 100% done.  Of course, that promise becomes impossible to keep when Secret Agent Vivi, played by Amber Heard, enters his life with one last mission, giving him a decent severance pay and an experimental drug that will prolong his life just a little bit, giving him more time to spend with his daughter.  Who could refuse that?

So it all becomes very hard for Costner’ character because he has no idea how to be a father to a teenage daughter who still has a lot of pent up anger towards her father not being in the picture.  So there is a lot of family angst there that starts effecting Costner while he is on the job, but in a very comedic fashion, especially when he starts to bond with one man who is the father who knows best.  It’s a recurring theme in the film, he’s trying to be a better father, and a better man, and that makes the movie lighter and more down to earth, allowing the audience to connect to the film and the story.

The action sequences fit into the movie perfectly, allowing the movie to move forward from action to comedic moments to the family moments without issue.  The entire movie is held together perfectly and was really written incredibly well, allowing viewers to attach to the characters and see how they grew and changed through the movie.  ★★★☆ (A)