Becoming The Muse

The Bricklayer Movie Review

The Bricklayer is a 2024 American action thriller film directed by Renny Harlin and written by Hanna Weg and Matt Johnson. It is based on the 2010 novel of the same name written by Paul Lindsay under the pseudonym Noah Boyd. The movie was released in the United States on the 5^th of January 2024.

The story is about a retired CIA agent who gets re-activated when someone starts blackmailing “the company”.

The Good

An entertaining bullet ridden thriller with a Jack Reacher vibe going on with lead character Steve Vail.

 Aaron Eckhart holds the movie together as Steve Vail, a retired CIA agent who now likes bricks better than people because well when you hold a brick you know exactly what exactly it is and what its purpose is… its form is its function… but people, not so much.

“…when I hold a brick in my hand, I know exactly what it is and what it will do. Every single time. Its form is its function. That gives me peace.”
Steve Vail – The Bricklayer quote

Vail is paired with a by-the-book rookie supervisor Kate Bannon who is supposed to keep Steve Vail in control and of course he immediately overrides her authority giving moments of hilarious irony, tempering the film’s mood.

Though its a low budget production, it has an expensive feel going for a 90s era James Bond aesthetic which works in its favour.

The Bad

The storytelling is a all over the place, as it tries to stitch together the past and present in a rather unconvincing fashion without a satisfying payoff.

Its rather predictable and tries to have an air of intrigue but the plot twists don’t carry enough punch or are not given enough set up to create more than a passing interest.

No one actively refers to the titular character as The Bricklayer, like the way The Beekeeper is referred to in The Beekeeper. With a name like The Bricklayer one would kinda expect to find that perhaps he has a special skill with bricks, maybe uses them in a fight sequence or hiding bodies behind walls.. anything… but nope.

The movie isn’t too sure of whether it wants to be taken seriously or as a comic brought to life with a rather bright and saturated colour palatte even during night scenes giving it a rather greyish hue.

The Ugly

Steve Vail does an over used vocal-croak-voice mumble thing thats hard to hear and hasn’t been in fashion since the days of Dirty Harry and perhaps never then…

Nina Dobrev’s character Kate Bannon is underutilised as a bossy female professional yet helpless and inept at every turn, providing Vail with many an occasion to smirk, taking back women’s movement several steps.

Another movie that glorifies gratuitous violence….

Final Thoughts

The Bricklayer is a light action movie with guns, explosions and chases that will keep you occupied through out its run time but not very memorable… Based from the first book in a series of novels, its possible we will be seeing Steve Vail again.