Film is Pwn

This blog is going to be on my favorite MacGuffin movie.  And no, a MacGuffin is neither the Crime Dog nor a muffin from McDonalds, but thanks for asking.  A “MacGuffin” is movie lingo for at item that is central to the plot but yet no one cares about it, so think of it as Ben Affleck.  Okay, maybe not the best analogy, because a MacGuffin is pivotal despite its pointlessness, and Ben Affleck is pointless though — by most accounts — he is able to pivot.

Confused?  Perhaps this will be a better illustration: Alfred Hitchcock, who perfected the MacGuffin, said in an interview featured in the documentary Dial H For Hitchcock: “The film could be about anything you like.  So long as I am making the audience react in a certain way.  If you begin to worry about the details of what are the papers about that the spies are trying to steal, well . . . I can’t be bothered about what the papers are and what the spies are after. . . The MacGuffin is the thing that the spies are after but the audience don’t care (about).”

Thanks, Alf.  Now that we’re clear on MacGuffins, that thing that everyone is after but could be anything, let me get to my point (finally, I know): One of my favorite MacGuffin movies is director John Frankenheimer’s last great film, Ronin.

Ronin is essentially about the pursuit of a briefcase.  That’s it, that’s the whole plot in a nutshell, and though I do own a briefcase or subscribe to any briefcase related periodicals, I tell you that Ronin is an extraordinarily riveting movie.

The story revolves around a cast of shady mercenaries, including Robert DeNiro, Sean Bean, and Jean Reno, who are hired to acquire the all-important briefcase.  Their employers are represented by secretive, Irish lass Deirdre (Natascha McElhone), who shoots down the question about what’s inside the case because, perhaps, even Deirdre doesn’t know.  DeNiro’s character, Sam, pries Deidre about the case’s contents in a little conversation that goes something like this:

Sam: “What’s in the case?”
Deirdre: “That isn’t necessary.”
Sam: “Is it heavy, is it explosive, is it chained to some unlucky bloke’s wrist? Are we gonna have to chop it off?”
Deirdre: “All right. But I am not under any obligation to let you know…”
Sam: “If not, the price has gotta go up. I’ll get you the case, but the price has gotta go up. If it’s gonna be a amateur night, I want a hundred thousand dollars. I want it upfront. I want it in a bank account. I want another $100,000 when you get the case.”

And he gets the money, but who can say no to DeNiro?  Well, hopefully anyone who DeNiro pitches a sequel to Righteous Kill will say no to DeNiro, but that’s not my point.  Back on topic: A lot of questionable people are bidding on the case’s contents, and Deirdre’s employers are unsure they can win the auction but — in a classic example of thinking outside the box — have opted to use that money to hire these shady characters to purloin the case without regard to such petty things as international laws, human life, regard for traffic signals, or respect for private property.

It’s fascinating to watch the process, as the men go about acquiring the essentials they need to complete the mission.  DeNiro and Sean Bean compete initially for alpha male status where it soon becomes apparent DeNiro is the real deal and Bean’s character is simply a poser.  The “ambushed by a coffee cup” scene is worth the price of admission alone, in my humble and always correct opinion.

Another great scene is when DeNiro manipulates amiable bystanders into unwittingly helping he and Deirdre obtain up close surveillance pictures of the security details is a classic scene.  It all leads to the ambush and the acquisition of the case, which culminates in one of the best car chases in the last twenty years.

There are a lot of twists and turns following that scene, but I won’t spoil any more (Kevin Spacey is Keyser Soze, incidentally).

DeNiro is at his best in Ronin, giving an underrated, great performance.  Of course, when you contrast his performance against most his recent work, movies like Hide and Seek, Godsend, etc., and the performance DeNiro gave ordering his 4th meal from Taco Bell suddenly appears to be an underrated, great performance. I love how DeNiro’s character, in the middle of all the action and intrigue, manages to completely emasculate Sean Bean’s character; build a strong repoire and sense of trust with fellow, honorable crook Jean Reno; and develop a strange, somewhat romantic, somewhat not entirely romantic chemistry with Deirdre.

Of course, not a lot of great movies rise out of average scripts, and this one is a doozy, provided by no less than David Mamet himself (The Untouchables, Spartan, Glengarry Glen Ross).  There’s a snap and a sizzle to Mamet’s dialogue that no one else has, and it’s certainly on display here.

In the end, it’s a lot of fuss over a briefcase.  I remember walking out of the theater and overhearing some folks mad that they never showed us what was actually in the case, which is as close to missing the cinematic forest for the cinematic trees.  The briefcase is a MacGuffin, as alluded to earlier.  It doesn’t matter if it’s a diamond, the answers to the SATs, a rookie Willie Mays baseball card, or an autographed first edition John Denver LP, this is an incredible motion picture.  Okay, if all the intrigue, treachery, and carnage were waged over a John Denver record it wouldn’t be that good a movie, but that’s not my point.

Ronin is a thinking man’s action movie, which is a rare and valuable commodity.

–Daniel J. Roos