The Locksmith

Directed by: Nicolas Harvard
Written by: Blair Kroeber, Joe Russo, John Glosser, Ben Labialis, Chris LaMont
Starring: Ryan Phillippe, Kate Bosworth, Ving Rhames, Tom Wright
Year: 2023
Country: USA
Running time: 92mins
BBFC Classification: 15

Low key neo-noir that treads very familiar ground but is elevated by the committed cast, New Mexico locations, and some fantastically slick cinematography.

Miller (Phillippe) is released from a 10 stretch having taken the fall for the murder of his best mate by crooked cop Zwick (Nordling). A master lock-picker and safe cracker, Miller just wants to go straight and reconnect with his estranged daughter. He’s given a second chance at a normal life by his good friend Frank (Rhames), helping him run his local locksmith business. But it doesn’t take long for Zwick to thunder back into Miller’s life, making sure he stays quiet and for the sister of his dead friend to ask for a favour that may just pull Miller back into a life of crime. Soon things are going from bad to worse and proceedings spiral out of Miller’s control, thus uncovering a much darker conspiracy involving the local police.

While The Locksmith doesn’t break overly new ground, the ground it does break it does well. This is a well-produced (apart from a few shoddy green screened driving scenes!), well shot and well-acted noir that sticks to its dark roots and mercifully doesn’t descend into action silliness. It’s a tough film with some vile characters doing horrible things with Miller desperately trying to do the right thing, no matter how much things get out of his control. Philippe plays Miller with a warm likability, us rooting for him to do well no matter the poor choices he makes. He has believable chemistry with Rhames and is backed up well by Kate Bosworth playing his ex-wife and the possibly one good cop left on the force. However, it’s the bad guys that steal the show, with Charlie Weber and Jeffrey Nordling great as two of the scuzziest scumbags, making for great villains.

The flick starts of really strong and is buoyed by some great cinematography by Jeff Bierman, emulating the thrillers of the 70s that the film is trying to homage: nice wide, rich, locked off shots and none of the shaky-going-for-faux-realism-hand-held drudgery! Much more of a dark thriller than an action film so don’t go in expecting lots of action, as while there are a couple of outbursts of violence this is much more a twisty-turny noir. Things do get a little muddled and dare say silly come the hour mark as the dark tension loses its grip in favour of contrivance for convenience’s sake and perhaps one too many silly decisions by the protagonist but first time helmer Nicholas Harvard gets things back on track for a satisfying ending.

Solid, well-made neo-noir that is worth checking out for fans of the genre.

Signature Entertainment presents The Locksmith on Digital Platforms 24th April 2023.