THE MARKSMAN

 

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to Bluray, DVD and Digital from director Robert Lorenz and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment is the tale of THE MARKSMAN.

Jim (Liam Neeson) is a rancher who lives on the Arizona/Mexico border raising cattle. The land has been rough, and he is still reeling from the death of his wife. Keeping an eye on Jim is Sarah (Katheryn Winnick) who sees how everything is affecting him. She also is a border agent and Jim calls when he sees immigrant cross the fence or finds someone in trouble.

In Mexico lives young man Miguel (Jacob Perez) who lives with Mom Rosa (Teresa Ruiz). They receive a telephone call from an uncle telling them to run as far away as possible. It seems the cartel is not happy and want to make an example of the family. Thinking they were going to make it; Miguel and Rosa are spotted by the cartel led by Mauricio (Juan Pablo Raba).

Managing to get across the border, that is not going to stop Mauricio and Jim finds himself involved in a shootout. Rosa convinces Jim to help them get to family in Chicago and after seeing what Mauricio is capable of, he agrees. The one who is the least happy about the situation is Sarah, especially after she discovers how vicious Mauricio is.

There is no time to think, and Jim knows he must stay one step ahead of the cartel if they are all going to make it out alive.

Neeson as Jim once again puts in the performance of a man who does not take anything from anybody. He makes it plain from the get-go that Mauricio does not scare him in the slightest. Knowing his way around weapons is what is keeping them alive. So, Neeson gives us his certain set of skills once again to protect a young angry boy. What I love about these roles is that he certainly takes his fair share of punches as one would expect which gives his characters realism in a sense. Calm, cool, collected and having a plan is the way Jim plays it.

Perez as Miguel is an angry young man that just wants to go home, except home is not where he left it. Not knowing how to trust Jim, I think the dog Jackson breaks the ice. Miguel seems a capable young man and proves it when his protector takes to drink. Perez is a young actor who plays his role with believability and smarts.

Raba as Mauricio is one cold hearted individual and that is what makes getting away imperative. This character has no problem it seems taking out one person after another, even if they give him what he wants. Creepy and scary at the same time and Raba gives us the look of a man on a mission who will never stop – ever.

Winnick as Sarah has a history with Jim and wants him to stay safe. Knowing that he tries to do the right thing, she wants him safe and the farther away he gets, the less she can keep him that way. Its good to see Winnick on screen again even though she will always be Lagatha to me!

Other cast include: Alfredo Quiroz as Carlos, Sean Rosales as Hernando, Jose Vasquez as Isidro, Antonio Leyba as Rigo, Dylan Kenin as Randall and Luce Rains as Everett.

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment has just added an amazing film to their library and making it available for us to all experience and re-experience in our own home theaters. There are films of every genre available from scary to drama to family films. For more of what they have to offer please visit www.uphe.com.

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The Bonus Features of THE MARKSMAN include The Making of THE MARKSMAN.

Let us be honest with one another, anything that has Liam Neeson in it I am going to watch and love. In recent years he has truly brought some memorable roles to the screen and shown Hollywood that stellar performances can come at any time in one’s life.

His choice in roles has one thing that stands out, the person he is portraying is just trying to be a good person and live within the world of his own making. It is only when someone comes along and tries to mess with that does Neeson’s characters shrug and say, “okay…if you want to play, lets play”.

It is weird to say but when that happens, I find myself shrugging my own shoulders saying out loud to the screen, ‘dude, you asked for it’. A line is drawn and, in THE MARKSMAN, that line was clear, especially when dealing with crazy.

In the end – justice comes down to him!