Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
Director: Nicolas Harvard, Defiant Screen Entertainment.
Ryan Phillippe, Kate Bosworth and Ving Rhames headline the cast of the tense crime thriller The Locksmith, from the producers of Poker Face and Midnight In The Switchgrass.
Miller Graham (Phillippe, Cruel Intentions) was an expert safecracker 10 years ago, and tempted by small-time crimes to support his girlfriend and their young daughter. During a break-in organised by a crooked cop, Ian Zwick (Jeffrey Nordling), his partner was shot and Zwick forced him to take the fall for the crime.
Having now come out of prison, Miller is offered a chance to start again. His skills, however, and his past prove to be a dangerous combination. It’s not long before he begins to realise Zwick is quite capable of ruining his life all over again.
Former fiancée Beth Fisher (Bosworth, Blue Crush), who used to wait tables at a diner, is now a police detective.
Nicolas Harvard (The Contractor, The Hurt Locker, Yellowstone) makes his directorial debut. “When I read the script, I knew I had my first movie. What stood out about this one was that it unintentionally hit a lot of the film noir tropes that I had grown up completely in love with. So, through the rewrites and subsequent production of the film, we steered our way into the noir aspects. But working in a genre that specific is a bit of a tightrope act.”
“There’s a fine line between cliché and homage, and that’s where I wanted the movie to live. In the end it’s a simple story with great performances.”
To win a DVD of The Locksmith, tell us the name of the ‘crooked cop’. Entries should be sent to [email protected] by Monday, 29 May 2023. Names of the three winners will be published in Frank Cassidy’s PS-sssst…! column on 30 May 2023.
- The Locksmith is out on Digital and DVD
