CLASSIFIED Now Available on Fandango at Home, Prime Video and Apple TV
Publisher, Editor Gregg W. Morris
Before this piece shifts into film review-article mode, this writer-reviewer has to state the following: I was not familiar with director Roel Reiné’s cinematic oeuvre when I signed on to write about Reiné’s CLASSIFIED. That’s changed, of course. Believe me.
And once upon a time quite a while ago, I was elbow to elbow with his star, Aaron Eckhart, in front of the World Trade Center. I was there shooting pictures – part hobby, part freelance (primarily ethnic and community news media) – and Eckhart was there with a SLR shooting away like I was. I recognized him quickly and recall I didn’t stare, gaze, gape nor gawk – nor was there an urge to ask him for an autograph. Selfies were unknown at that time.
I did sneak a few shots of him and that was pretty much it. We were in a large crowd. I recall that something in the manner of a publicity event was taking place; I can’t recall the media published notification that lured me to the WTC. No one else at that time seemed to have recognized Eckhart.
Back then, I had, before WTC, saw Eckhart in BATTLE OF LOS ANGELES (2011), directed by Jonathan Liebesman. Or maybe it was THE CORE (2003), directed by John Amiel. Can’t recall at this time. At that time, whichever and however, I wasn’t writing film reviews … but I had seen BATTLE OF LOS ANGELES at least a dozen times on cable and THE CORE about the same number, also on cable. This date, I’ve seen most of his movies .
Now that I got that off my chest, on with the review.
Synoptic
The plot has lots of small, medium, big and colossal surprises as well as twists and turns and flips and flops weaved in throughout the 105 minutes running time. I believe the panoramic cinematography strongly contributed to the pizzazz in this movie. A-List Actor Aaron Eckhart plays Evan Shaw, a lean-mean-CIA-killing-machine who’s been operating as the CIA’s solitary go-to hitman alone in the field for more than 20 years. Kacey Walker, played by veteran actress Abigail Breslin, is a brainy and nerdy UK MI6 analyst who shows up one day out of the blue and shocks Walker with disturbing news: His CIA boss Kevin Angler, played by the usually stellar Tim Roth (but not as stellar as usual in this movie) has been dead for years and that Shaw’s CIA division has been shut down many years ago.
Shaw had been under the impression that Angler had been communicating with him via “Help Wanted” sections of newspapers and that his CIA department in the agency was a functioning reality. Neither Shaw nor Walker knew at the time of their first meeting that they were related by blood. She’s Shaw’s long-lost daughter that he didn’t know about.
And so it goes: Together – once they were able to resolve their who-what-when-why-where-how-omg issues – they set out to discover whose orders Shaw has been following for so many years. Classified is chocked with cinematic 3-and-4-and 5 star goodies, such as the cinematography which borderlines on breathtaking for much of the film; dialogue with a crisp comic edge and rejoinders and repertoire
Acting? 4 stars over all. Special Effects? 4 stars, sometimes 4.5. Fight scenes (a lot of those)? As good as any in recent memory. Production values? Audiences will get their money’s worth.
Like father, like daughter. Courtesy of Saban Films and Sony
Left to right: Kacey Walker, played by veteran actress Abigail Breslin; center, Evan Shaw played by Aaron Eckhart; and far right, Kevin Angler, played by Tim Roth. Courtesy of Saban Films and Sony
Succinct Filmmakers’s Bios
Director Roel Reiné: An award-winning director from the Netherlands wth a career spanning over two decades; he has directed a wide array of feature films and television series for major studios including Universal, Paramount, 20th Century Fox, Sony, Lionsgate, Netflix, Disney+, and more. Known for his hands-on approach and broad skill set, which includes cinematography, writing, and producing.
Writer Bob DeRosa: Florida-born screenwriter whose impressive credits include Lionsgate’s KILLERS; Jieho Lee’s ensemble crime/drama THE AIR I BREATHE. He was also Story Editor on the fourth season of the hit USA TV show White Collar. Along with frequent collaborator Ben Rock, Bob has co-written multiple audio dramas including the Audible Original Catchers, Shudder’s Video Palace, and Wondery’s I Hear Fear. They also co-created the award-winning horror/comedy web-series 20 Seconds To Live.
Gregg W. Morris Can be reached at gregghc@comcast.net, profgreggwmorris@gmail.com.