The Foreigner

Plot synopsis:
Jonathan "Jon" Cold (Steven Seagal) is a former "foreigner", or deep cover operative who now works as a freelance agent who is frequently commissioned to deliver high-risk packages.
As Jon prepares for his father's funeral, Alexander Marquet (Philip Dunbar) asks him to take on an assignment. Jon is keen to leave the business, but he reluctantly accepts the job.
His task is to take a mysterious package from France to a wealthy man in Germany. But Jon will soon find that there are a lot of people who are determined to prevent him from doing so. Jon is accompanied by Dunoir (Max Ryan) to a farmhouse to pick up the package, and they are attacked by assassins.
Jon fights them off and decides to continue with the assignment. Leaving Dunoir behind in France, Jon heads for his father Jackson's memorial service in Warsaw, Poland, and Jon meets up with his brother Sean (Jeffrey Pierce) before continuing on to Germany.
The package turns out to contain a black box flight recorder from an aircraft that had been suspiciously downed, and the recipient—sinister industrialist Jerome Van Aken (Harry Van Gorkum) -- has a vested interest in it.
Once he arrives in Germany, Jon discovers that he is being pursued by various agents and assassins, while Van Aken's wife Meredith (Anna-Louise Plowman) and CIA spook Jared Olyphant (Gary Raymond) also seem to want to get hold of the package.

Tags: good versus evil, violence, humor, flashback

Review:
The Foreigner is a straight-to-video Steven Seagal film that was originally intended to be released as a theatrical feature in March, 2003, an intention which was reportedly reversed when Seagal's prior film (Half Past Dead) tanked at the box office.
According to some reports, the film had a lavish $20 million budget, including location shoots in Warsaw and Paris, and was completed as part of the studio's obligation to a two-picture deal which was negotiated after the relative success of Exit Wounds seemed to indicate that Seagal still had a solid following.Despite the size of their investment, Sony Screen Gems probably made the right move in shelving this movie.
Because he is a self-proclaimed "consummate professional" who has been hired to deliver the package only into the hands of the husband, Seagal at first defies the wife, then later gets involved in protecting her and her daughter from other mysterious guys with unexplained agendas, as well as from her husband.Many people have mysterious, cryptic conversations.
She could have found some activities more beneficial to her career, like having unnecessary surgery, ripping those pesky insert cards out of magazines, or taking some community college courses in animal husbandry.Seagal used to be a pretty fair hand-to-hand combatant, but the action scenes didn't manage to redeem this film at all.
He might even get a little winded removing the wrappers from candy bars, although that's understandable if you estimate just how many of those he must have to eat to maintain his present girth.Steven Seagal seemed to be making a comeback with Exit Wounds, but if his last film was half past dead, this one must be pretty close to filling out the other half..
When you watch a Seagal movie, you expect good action.
Unsure of who these people are or why they want the package (or even what the package is because, despite everyone in the world betraying him, he is too "professional" to look inside) Cold tries to sort out right from wrong and make it out alive.Call me a stubborn man but although Out For A Kill was a shambles, I still somehow thought that I would give this joint Oblowitz/Seagal film a shot.
This lack of effort in the writing is not only at this level but also runs all through the film  for example on man behind shot twice by a shotgun (at 10 foot range), falling out a second storey window but turning up alive minutes later with an injury to his side but generally fine otherwise.With these problems it will be no surprise to find that the characters are poor.
For example he pays some "normal" guy to deliver his car to Germany, thus drawing the bad guys away from him  problem is, the normal guy was always going to get killed  is this a plan that is meant to make me like him or care if Cold lives or dies?
This leaves the story, which is a sorry mess of a plot that makes no effort to engage or make sense of; basically it just relies on people falling through glass and those looking for a complex thriller and not just wasting their time  they are deluding themselves.
STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All CostsSteven Seagal should have got a better agent.After Exit Wounds miraculously went straight to number one at the US box office and temporarily restored his position as a top ranking Hollywood action star,his next step was not to go for a leading role in a film by another big name,Hollywood action director like John Woo or Michael Bay,or even his old aquaintance Andrew Davis,but to go to trashy,sloppy DTV action director Albert Pyun and appear in a supporting role in a Godawful piece of dreck by the name of Ticker.This,did,however,go straight to video (as just about every film Pyun's ever made has) and probably went unnoticed by the cinema going public.However,when the film Half Past Dead was released a year later,in which Mr.Ponytail co starred with gravel voiced rap midget Ja Rule,the gimmick appeared to have worn off,and the film,unlike EW which started the whole Seagal/rappers thing,was a mega flop.Maybe it had something to do with it being released on the same weekend as Harry Potter 2,but nevertheless,flop it was,and now,Seagal appears to have plummeted smack-bang right to the position his career was in five years ago with the straight-to-video action movie The Foreigner,a labourous,over-stylised dud that runs for 92 minutes,but ends up feeling more like 992.This is probably owed more than anything to a totally incomprehensible plot,with too many thinly plotted twists,turns and red herrings in it to sustain interest.Seagal's raspy voice has always seemed to prove a hinderance to any movie he's in,but he mumbles so badly at certain stages in this,even the highest pitched dolby pro logic sound system probably couldn't make him sound any more audible.Aside from this,the movie,especially for a 15 certificate,is full of gratuitous violence,mainly in the form of graphic shootings,especially from the Dunoir character.There are some other rather grisly images too,but the shootings are certainly the most consistent.Certain scenes have a nice visual flair,and the action's not bad,but overall,this is a ponderous mess that shows clearly the direction in which Seagal's star is falling.**.
The fight scenes are so dull and edited 'discretely' to hide the fact that Steven Seagal is not in good shape anymore.
This has got to be THE worst Steven Segal movie I have ever watched (even worse than eco-piffle like On Deadly Ground & Fire Down Below).
(I felt like punching him till my arm went numb)Anyway, I haven't seen Half Past Dead or Out for a kill yet and i daren't go back for more humiliation at my store, but they can't be anyworse than this turkeyThe soundtrack is supposed to be young and hip - It just gave me a suuden urge for half a dozen asprins.All in all this is Seagal at his WORST!
Im hoping this was made before Half Past Dead and Exit Wounds because it was rubbish, Seagal wasnt to blame it was down to the crap directing when the few action scenes took place.
In this very same forum, you will find a guy who talks about all of the Steven Seagal films he has seen that he didn't like.
In my opinion Steven Seagal is one of the few action movie people who actually made significant improvement in acting skills as their careers developed.
This is probably the best thing that could have happened to SEAGAL, i don't think i could have taken it, watching people leave or laugh at the cinema, at this (let's say) complicated-mess of a movieWith every new year, comes new excitement over a new STEVEN SEAGAL flick.
"SPECIAL DELIVERY-ACTION" proclaims the back cover, and it further announces that "Amid exotic locales and loads of explosive excitement, THE FOREIGNER is a heart-pounding thriller from the king of action (i take it, they mean SEAGAL?) that'll keep you on the edge of your seat"....Phew!......You soon find out they TRI-STAR are being (just) a little economical with the truth, on this one.Here SEAGAL (working with hack director MICHAEL OBLOWITZ) try (and mostly fail) to go for that old school 'Harry Palmer/Dirk Bogarde' style espionage flick, were action takes a back seat, to plot.
Unfortunately, what we have here is little plot, AND very little action, so the rest is stretched out with meaningless 'filler'SEAGAL plays JONATHAN COLD (great name, eh!) who is hired by a shadowy crime boss (aren't they all) to deliver a 'mysterious-package'(tm) across France, but enemy agents try (and mostly fail) to intercept him on his mission.
And in most cases (the fight with MAX RYAN) look terribly 'doubled' On the plus side, the movie is lensed well enough, and (god forbid) you might have to watch it 2-or-3 times in order to understand what's happening (but you might not want to waste four and a half hours of your life, like this!) Had the movie not concentrated on 'meaningless murders of (mostly) innocent bystanders, and concentrated on more SEAGAL hand-to-broken-wrist style combat, it certainly might have ranked up there with his early 90's input.
This movie has a plot that is just barely breathing.It is almost impossible to follow.I think most fans watch Seagal movies for the martial arts scenes.Even these are terrible because Seagal is now old and slow.The fight scenes are very short,use slow and fast motion kind of like the Matrix but they can't quite pull it off.I felt as though I threw away 4 bucks when I rented this one.Don't do the same..
Seagal's best attribute (martial arts) consumes only a few scenes in the entire film, and nifty camera work tries to cover up the fact that Seagal no longer moves like he used to.
The bad hairpiece, fast camera work, weakened plot, and clearly a man who no longer wants to try to succeed as an action star.
1/2 out of ****The most painfully boring action movie I've seen since (insert any recent Steven Seagal venture), I'm starting to wonder if satiating my morbid curiosity over the next Seagal disaster is worth wasting time for the hell I endure.
Such is the case with The Foreigner, which stars Steven Seagal as Jonathon Cold, a mysterious guy who delivers packages.
The movie's silly, too, with Seagal's character acting in ways that might seem clever to a five-year old (switch cars with someone else, give bad guy a fake package), which apparently means most of these bad guys aren't much smarter than your average kindergartener.
Like his previous early works, the title could be used to describe Seagal's character (i.e. Steven Seagal is...Out for Justice, Marked for Death, Above the Law, Hard to Kill), the fight scenes are almost as short as those in The Patriot,  and the lead villain is pathetically easy to defeat in hand-to-hand combat.
So the movie should be very availabe at your nearest rental store, but I suggest you ignore it, even if you are a Seagal fan, and check The Transporter out instead, just to see why Jason Statham will be cinema's next big action star and how a movie about a guy who delivers packages can be made with style..
The flick is uninspired with less of the usual action stuff which put Seagal on the movie map (fire fights, hand-to-hand combat, pyrotechnics, stunts, etc.) and more of a story which is convoluted, uninteresting, and full of meaningless filler.
However, trying to follow a plot that doesn't make sense, action scenes that seem like a blur of normal speed and slow motion camera, and a Polish location trying to look like Germany, France and even Norway made me wonder what the director was smoking.
Watching a Steven Seagal movie these days is like going to McDonald's.
"The Foreigner" is a straight-to-video Steven Seagal film.
I'll call back laterJonathan Cold: I'd say the only thing unexpected is that I'm still aliveJonathan Cold: You kinda look like Ray Charles (referring to Mr. Mimms Sherman Augustus) then again Ray probably can't shoot as good as you, right?Final Thoughts: Seagal has done many terrible DTV films over the years, and this is undoubtedly one of the worst.
Two things are changed from then.First of all i am not a kid anymore,and second most of new Seagal movies are just terrible.This is on my opinion the worst movie ever made with Derailed starred by Jean Claude Van Damme.There is no plot in this movie,the plot is just an excuse to shoot some terrible action scenes which are painful to watch.I love action movies,but this is not an action movie....This isn't a movie...this is a group of irritating scenes which are connected in annoying way to kill the viewers love for the action movies.I am sorry but i don't have any respect for anyone who liked this movie.He has a serious intelligence problem then.I hope that Seagal will make some new good movies in the future.Good luck for him !.
When I heard Seagal was making two movies for Franchise Pictures I was happy, after all the films they make might not be high art but some of them have been enjoyable.
Don't get me wrong, I'm a a big Steven Seagal fan and with "Exit Wounds" I was hoping the guy was going to make a comeback but signing on for junk like this is going to send him back to the bottom of the barrel.
If Seagal really is making two more movies for Franchise I hope they put some money into them so we don't have to watch another film like this.
seagal barely fights and a lot of his scenes are shot from the back ( if you look in some of the scenes it is not even him, but a 100 lb lighter stunt double) the movie is just all around BAD!.
However, considering Steven Seagal's past movies, you think 'Hey, there might be some cool action-sequences at least worth watching...' ...you are WRONG!
That being said, while there are certainly some good Steven Seagal movies out there-this isn't one of them and because of that I have rated it accordingly.
i can't say i was really impressed with this Steven Seagal offering.i guess it was passably entertaining.i wasn't completely bored out of my skull.it's supposed to be an action/thriller,which is great.there's just one minor problem.there isn't a lot of action,and it's even less thrilling.really it's basically a genre movie.for me,this is the first time i have noticed Seagal use a stand in for some of his dialogue scenes.
I think his career took a turn for the worse, when he killed himself off with the otherwise good "Executive Action" (with Kurt Russell and a then relatively unknown but excellent Halle Berry).The camera work is leaden, the action sequences mistimed in such a way that they take away from the action and suspense, and everything about this movie signals that the producers were cutting costs left, right and center, right down to the cheap Eastern European locations and European Union cast.
As I said before I was intrigued by the plot for awhile and was curious as to what exactly was in the package that Seagal's character, Jonathan Cold (talk about bad character names), had to deliver.
Seagal still looks good and knows how to throw bad guys around when he gets the chance.
There was this one character who must have been killed by Seagal like three times in the movie.
I have to say that I really liked UNDER SIEGE and HARD TO KILL.watching Seagal doing his funny martial arts on people.
They are usually highly entertaining and being somewhat of an adept of Aikido, I usually like the way Steven incorporates these martial art techniques in the fight sequences.However this film is a really bad movie making effort and it seems obvious to me that the blame lies with the director and the producers who obviously have no idea how to make an action movie, let alone direct someone like Steven Seagal and to take advantage of his knowledge and competence.I never saw the end of this movie.
Seagal is good in his role which is a very low-key character, but I think the best aspect of the film is actor Max Ryan's performance as "Dunior".
Steven Seagal, after making the bombastic "Half Past Dead," turned to the direct-to-video market with the film "The Foreigner," which he made with visionary action director Michael Oblowitz.
If I have to expect good acting or a plot to be a Steven Seagal fan, count me out.
"The Foreigner" is an exciting action, suspense, and adventure film with Steven Seagal (duh!).
One scene he tries to kill him...later on in the movie they work together to storm Van Eagan's mansion.I know Seagal's like 80 lbs heavier than in his heydey but that doesn't mean he has to subject us to a plot like this.
Plus, with characters trying to team up or kill Seagal at an alarming rate, you have no one to get behind and cheer for.The highlight of the movie is Donsoir with a cigarette in his mouth or hand basically the whole film, like Lumbergh's coffee mug in Office Space.4 out of 10.
Being ranked at Number 83 in IMDb's bottom 100 distinguishes this hopeless film as Steven Seagal's worst movie.
If you were a Steven Seagal fan, you can try this movie.
Despite nearly being killed Cold still agrees to take the package to Germany & deliver it to rich industrialist Jerome Van Aitken (Harry Van Gorkum), however it's just not that simple as lots of guy's in long black coats want the package themselves & will kill to get it...This Polish American co-production was directed by Michael Oblowitz & is bad Seagal which has been said more than a few times over the past few years.
The acting isn't up to much, Seagal is Seagal & mumbles his way the film while I must admit I thought Anna-Louise Plowman who plays Meredith was pretty hot but she's not in it enough to make it watchable.The Foreigner is a poor action film, if your a Seagal fan remember the good times & watch films like Under Siege 1 & 2 again instead.
Basically freelance agent and "foreigner" Jonathan Cold (Steven Seagal) is hired to deliver a mysterious package which he cannot know the contents of, Alexander Marquee (Philip Dunbar) wants him to take from France to Germany.
Steven Seagal plays Jon Cold a ex-Cia agent who is hired to deliver a package from France to Germany with help from a guy named Dunoir.
Unfortunently some baddies want the package and this starts all the action like shooting and fighting you know like most Steven Seagal movies.