The Foreigner (2003)

User Rating:

2.8/10   

Director:

Michael Oblowitz

Writer:

Darren O. Campbell (writer)

Release Date:

20 June 2003 (South Korea)

Genre:

Action | Thriller

Tagline:

If they think they can stop him, they're dead wrong.

Plot:

This story is about a freelance agent (Seagal) who is the courier of a package from France to Germany. He soon finds that many people want to get their hands on it.

Plot Keywords:

Courier | First Of Series | Chase | Title Spoken By Character

Cast

Steven Seagal	...	Jonathan Cold
Max Ryan	...	Dunoir
Harry Van Gorkum	...	Jerome Van Aken
Jeffrey Pierce	...	Sean Cold
Anna-Louise Plowman	...	Meredith Van Aken
Sherman Augustus	...	Mr. Mimms
Gary Raymond	...	Jared Olyphant
Philip Dunbar	...	Alexander Marquee
Izabela Okrasa	...	Clarissa Van Aken
Grzegorz Kowalczyk	...	Rolls Royce Driver
Dianna Camacho	...	Hotel Clerk Imke
Deobia Oparei	...	The Stranger
Grzegorz Emanuel	...	Jonathan Look Alike
Przemyslaw Saleta	...	Security Guard
Jan Jurewicz	...	Man with Porsche

Also Known As:

Cudzoziemiec (Poland)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and language.

Runtime:

Argentina:96 min

Country:

USA | Poland

Language:

English | Danish | German | Polish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Sweden:15 | Netherlands:16 | Finland:K-15 | South Korea:15 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Germany:18 (JK/SPIO) | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:15 | Singapore:NC-16 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Berlin, Germany

Company:

Franchise Pictures

Trivia:

In one of the last scenes when Meredith is attacked by the Danes you can clearly hear one of them say: "Bind kællingen!" Which is actually Danish and means "Tie the bitch up!"

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: During the fight between Dunoir and Cold at the end of the movie, the knife Dunoir pulls is clearly a rubber training knife (note how it wobbles side to side during the slow motion portions; it is also uncharacteristically thick).

Quotes:

Mimms: Sweet dreams Bruce Lee.

Movie Connections:

References Dirty Harry (1971)

Terrible

I was shocked to see how utterly poor this film was. I am huge fan of Steven Seagal and martial arts films in general. The plot was very hard to follow: he is in France, then Germany, Poland, back to Germany, then back to Poland, then to Norway (!). What in blue blazes in going on?

The action is very stale. There are way too many gun battles, which do not really become Mr. Seagal. His success has been through showing the audience his Aikido skills: they suit his personality so well. There are a few instances in which he uses those skills, but the context just isn't there. Perhaps the problem is that Seagal is playing the character of an "assassin" or "bad guy for hire". His fortee is is playing a police officer in an American urban environment.

My next plaint is against the director of this film. There are far too many camera techniques right before Seagal or the main Bad Guy (Benoit) shoot someone. What is with that? I am no expert in cinematography or film (as a technical subject), but these techniques are as outdated as star wipes. They are simply not done any more.

I advise Mr. Seagal to stick with what he does best. This is not to say he should be predictable, but that he should be creative within a framework that most suits his abilities.