The Painter Review – Heightened Suspense, Race Against Time Thriller

Details

Category: Film

Published on Thursday, 04 January 2024 18:12

Written by Janet Walker

The Painter, from Paramount Global Content Distribution, presents a riveting, dramatic, Black Ops government covert thriller that forces a retired ex-agent back into service to save himself while being chased by CIA agents and assassination teams.

The film begins with a collage of scenes that include a fatal crash and hospitalization, the audience understands from voice over by Byrne, played by Jon Voight, that left a young Peter orphaned and with unexplainable injuries that amplified and enhanced his hearing abilities.

The Promised Land Review – Triumphant, A Must See

We then move from the past to the present. A man sitting in a booth, at a diner, drawing on a napkin. Slowly, the camera cuts to a man entering the café when it appears as if time has slowed down, and every sound is amplified. The man in the booth seems to be keenly aware of the even the most insignificant and often overlooked noise. The camera sharply reverts to the man walking into the restaurant, and back to the man in the booth, until the suspense breaks as the cellphone of the man in the booth rings.

At the other end of the phone is Elena, played by Rryla McIntosh, who is very pregnant and like Peter, played by Charlie Weber, on assignment at an undisclosed location as both are employed by the CIA.

Just then, the old man who had been stealthy moving closer to the booth, sits down, and we understand the man, is Byrne, played by John Voight, Peter's adopted dad, also a CIA operative.

The Teacher’s Lounge Review – Intriguing, Suspenseful, A Gripping Drama

Peter is given an easy snatch and grab assignment and makes his way to the location. He is downloading the information when his acute sense of hearing kicks in and he turns to see his wife, Elena, also working the same case. Both are given orders, one to grad the information and kill him and the other to let him go. Just as Peter was standing down, the low life picks up a gun and in the exchange of gun fire both Peter and Elena are hit.

The trauma caused them to lose the baby. At this point the film advances 20 years, and Peter, now living off the grid in Washington State, has retired from the life of espionage and taken up painting. We see as he concentrates and focuses that every image is a reminder of the life he had and lost.

His new life, now, away from the reminders of the past consists of small trips to the tiny town, visits with the local tech guy, played by and stops at the local tavern where the bartender/owner, Lucy, played by Leah Gibson, sells his paintings.

Memory Review – Palpable Emotion, Strong Story Driven Performances

His life is about to become a whole lot more complicated as his old employer, the CIA needs a fall guy as a top-secret program has becomes exposed. Now he is exposed and targeted by a relentless killer, Ghost, played by Max Montesi, and a rogue black ops program leader, Piasecki, played by Marie Avgeropoulos, Peter is forced to rely on skills he thought he left behind in this high-stakes game of survival.

The Painter is a tense, heightened suspenseful, race against time, thriller. The ensemble cast capture their characters with finesses. There are standout performances throughout as the film allowed Jon Voight to play more than the expected and scene stealing performance by Max Montesi, who plays the ruthless, high-strung, psychopathic killer demonstrates both merciless intensity and comical delight.

Gripping, tense and thrilling, The Painter opens exclusively in theaters, Friday, January 5, 2024. See it. Check local listings for showtimes. The Painter will be available for home purchase, digitally, January 9, 2024.

Reacher S2 Review – Heightened Suspense, Strong Story Driven Performances

Country: U.S.

Language: English.

Runtime: 100 minutes.

Director: Kimani Ray Smith.                  

Writer: Brian Buccellato.

Executive Producers: Scott Karol, Charles Cooper.

Producer: Steven Paul.

Cast: Charlie Weber, Jon Voight, Madison Bailey, Rryla McIntosh, Simon Tattersall, Max Montesi, Bobby Stewart, Luisa d'Oliveira, Benjamin Jacobson, Leah Gibson, Jason Gray-Stanford, Marie Avgeropoulos.