User reviews

Action movie with average cast, good photography, great stunts, unusual location (Thessaloniki, Greece), good music and some nice dialogue (here and there).

Script, alas, had some really annoying aspects... for example: who would like to watch a man in his 50s, alone, defeating with his bare hands 30 thugs, most of them armed, one after the other, in a same scene?

Movie reality is cinematic, ok... but there are rules nonetheless: I'd say that 2 thugs should be the edge of 'realism', up to 5 you must be funny, plausible and it remains however debatable, 6 is reserved for James Bond and higher figures definitely require superheroes.

Another (violated) rule of mine says that a thug easily defeated in a previous scene cannot have such a come back and beat you to a pulp in a following sequence... anyway... that said, it was not boring: I reached the end titles in good spirits and it made me kill some time.

And I always liked Aaron Eckhart.

Enjoy.

The film is still running through my mind. While I enjoyed the film, the director used every bloody cliche in the book. Setting scenes to give the viewers a comparison impression between James Bond, and The Bricklayer. You might almost thinking they were trying to create a "Brand" so that there could be future Bricklayer films. Transparent hopes of more, when the film has so many flaws may be doomed to disappointment. Many of the scenes also had actors either posing for the scene, or either looking at the camera, or every other way except at the camera. Some of them near broke their necks avoiding looking at the camera, even when they were in very abnormal postures. The film editing was sloppy, even when a better edit would have avoided revealing the more obvious flaws.

"The Bricklayer" crumbles under the weight of its own predictability. Clichéd plot-lines and illogical turns make this B-movie feel like a dusty relic from a bygone era. While promising a gritty thriller, the film delivers more eye-rolls than excitement.

The narrative cracks are evident from the get-go. Characters behave with questionable motives, and the action sequences lack punch. The cheap production values do little to elevate the experience, leaving viewers yearning for a trowel to smooth over the rough edges.

Despite its flaws, "The Bricklayer" isn't completely without merit. A few scattered witty lines and a fleeting moment of genuine suspense offer glimpses of what could have been. But ultimately, these are just bricks scattered amidst a crumbling wall.

If you're seeking a cinematic masterpiece, you'll find this film more like a pile of rubble. However, for fans of campy B-movies who enjoy a generous helping of cheese with their action, "The Bricklayer" might provide a mildly diverting afternoon distraction. Just don't expect it to win any awards for architectural brilliance.

Overall: A predictable and uninspired thriller that fails to build any real excitement. Skip this one unless you're craving a cinematic power nap. Rating: 4- out of 10 IMDb stars.

I don't understand who green-lights these movies. Did no one read the script before they started shooting? This is just so freaking mediocre.

Writing: the story is derivative as hell and dumb AF, there is no character development at all, and the dialogue is uncomfortably cringeworthy.

Acting: Aaron Eckhart is a good actor, but in this movie, no one delivers a remotely decent performance. Especially Nina Dobrev, who at least in this film, brings no range whatsoever, no chemistry with the lead actor and a truly amateur performance. The support cast is no better.

Directing: a disjointed and incoherent mess with nothing but a few passable action sequences to pacify the tedium.

I strongly encourage the writers to hang up the gloves. When ChatGPT can do a better job than you do, it's time to look into a different line of work.

You know the older experienced guy kicking ass, killing dozens of bad guys. There is probably a hundred scripts written for Liam Neeson and now the weaker ones are being made with a cheaper actor. Personally I'm all for it, Aaron is really good and I hope he starts churning out 2-3 of these a year.

So yeah the story is meh, but Nina Dobrev is a nice counterbalance and it's mostly action, if you liked your average Liam Neeson flick in the last 10 years you will like this also.

Personally I liked this movie the most from recent action capers with Eckhart, so if you've seen any of those and moderately enjoyed them don't miss this one.

I went to see it because of the name of the great actor Aaron Eckhart on the bill. Contrary to many others, I do still really appreciate many of his latest movies, but this is definitely not one of them...

The bad: Aaron Eckhart does a good job at acting, it's not his fault this movie flopped, but his opposing leading actress has got ZERO charisma or chemistry. Who decided to cast her? She acts like she walked straight of the set of a cheap television soap series. A total nobody.

This whole movie has got a cheap look and feel. But let's forget about all that for a moment, the only crucial question left is: has it got riveting action or suspenseful plot turns. NO!

Aaron Eckhart fans be warned, he does still act well, but this movie is quite a tedious dread to watch.

In Greece, a high-profile journalist is found murdered while in possession of incriminating documents shedding light on the CIA's various activities in Europe of an unethical nature which sparks widespread protests and anti-U. S. sentiment abroad. Untested CIA agent Kate Bannon (Nina Dobrev) identifies Victor Radek (Clifton Collins Jr.), a former asset thought to be dead, as the culprit behind the assassination and brings it to the attention of Director O'Malley (Tim Blake Nelson). O'Malley contacts agent and Radek's former handler Steve Vail (Aaron Eckhart), who has since left the world of espionage and is working as a bricklayer. While initially uninterested in what's going on, Vail soon changes his mind when assassins hired by Radek make an attempt on his life. Partnering with Bannon to find Radek, the two work their way through Greece as Vail must also confront the missteps of his past.

The Bricklayer is an action thriller adapted from the 2010 thriller novel of the same name written by former FBI agent turned author Paul Lindsay under the pen name of Noah Boyd. Noted independent film company Millennium Media (notably of the Expendables and Has Fallen films) acquired the rights to the novel in 2011 with the intention of adapting the film as a vehicle for Gerard Butler. Nothing further was heard of the project until in January 2022 when it was announced Aaron Eckhart would star in the film. Premiering as a day and date release in theaters and VOD, The Bricklayer covers well-trodden ground for this kind of lower-mid budgeted spy action-thriller, and while it's nothing all that special it does what it's supposed to and occupies your time in the same way as an airport paperback.

In a departure from the book, the story has been switched from being set around Chicago and the FBI to being based in Greece and involving the CIA (presumably so the film has more appeal on the international market). In a way The Bricklayer feels like it's harkening back to the era of spy thrillers from about 10 or 15 years ago which were very much inspired by stuff like Europacorps success with films like Taken or the popular consciousness centered around controversies involving surveillance by U. S. agencies with things like The November Man or Erased (which also had Aaron Eckhart) churned out and filling that demand. In the time since we've seen this spy template used many times (some better than others) and while on paper The Bricklayer isn't deviating from the standard of this kind of movie, by the standards of stuff that's come out featuring Bruce Willis or Mel Gibson in similar material it helps that it has a more engaged lead and a director who knows what he's doing.

While Renny Harlin doesn't recapture his glory days of Die Hard 2, The Long Kiss Goodnight or even Deep Blue Sea (though your mileage may vary on that one), but for the budget Harlin likely had to work with he keeps the pacing tight and delivers some good action beats with the standout probably being a car chase at the climax. Aaron Eckhart is an actor I really like and after seeing him in Thank You For Smoking and The Dark Knight over 15 years ago I really hoped he'd become an A-lister, but sadly his primary output these days mainly consists of generic VOD fodder. Eckhart isn't called upon to stray too far from the brooding slightly glowering action hero archetype, but he feels more present than I've seen in comparable examples. Nina Dobrev is serviceable as Kate Bannon even if the character is more there just to serve as a foil for Vail while everyone else is basically just going through the motions.

The Bricklayer is the kind of movie that exists so it can be an option in Redboxes and streaming services and if you're looking to kill 100 minutes it'll do just that. I can't say you'll be thinking about it much an hour after you see it when it inevitably blends in with similar films like Survivor or Unlocked, but you can do worse.

I don't know what to tell you. I generally love spy thrillers even though most of them objectively suck. This one though... Lazy script writing, dumbest action scenes I've seen in a while, overacting and way too predictable.

Go in with super low expectations and maybe it won't be so bad for you.

I've watched my share of bad movies and usually enjoy them somewhat anyway. This one though... ah well, I'm only 1 hour and 20 minutes into it. Maybe the end will redeem the movie but I'm not holding my breath.

On the bright side... uhm... errr... uhmm... ok, you go and find me a bright side for this one.

Its an active movie, why are people getting all worked up once more.

Aaron Eckert can act, he is amazing in all is roles, despite his age he is fit and he can do some great fight scenes.

I will admit that the title of the movie might be off and could have been better because the bricklayer he kind of works for 5 minutes for construction at the start of the movie.

But after that get ready for a fun rollercoaster ride of none stop action.

Not sure why people are giving this movie a bad rating or low score, most action movies are just that action.

I honestly love it and its a great addition to the gender.

Its basically a fun time to pass two hours. Also Nina Dobrev is one beautiful women.

I think Aaron Eckhart is good. I know he doesn't do great films but I don't think he gets enough credit for the films he does do.

This film however was marred by bad dialogue. I mean cliche riff to cliche riff...I'm surprised they didn't throw an, "I'll be back" in there just to complete the insane laziness that this film was written with.

Then the on screen chemistry between Eckhart and Nina Dobrev was putrid. In one scene she literally giggled like a school girl at one of Eckhart's cheese ball lines...but yet they both are professional assassins/spies. Yawn.

The story itself wasn't terrible...if you strip some of those cheese ball lines out.

Oh and brick laying....it literally played no role in movie at all....not in the way that other movies incorporated some passed-life-skill into the movie.

Horrible waste of time.

Former CIA operative Victor Radek (Clifton Collins Jr.) is killing European civilians opposed to America with incriminating evidence on the CIA. The publicity is destroying America's reputation. CIA analyst Kate Bannon (Nina Dobrev) uncovers Radek's identity and tells CIA Director O'Malley (Tim Blake Nelson). With so much possible blow-back, he assigns veteran operative Steve Vail (Aaron Eckhart) and Kate to take down Radek in an off-the-books operation.

In the old days, this is a mid-tier action thriller with some mid-tier actors. The story is basic at best. Quite frankly, I don't like Radek's scheme. There has to be a better way to get his revenge. There isn't much in terms of twists and turns. There is one shock reveal, but nobody cares about that by then. The production value is passable with some functional action. There are some minor plot holes and inconsistencies. For example, Vail takes down a dozen thugs in a club, but the next night, he struggles to take down one of those thugs in a fair fight. The movie doesn't seem to know what it is. This is a marginal film that will be lost in the stream.

Many scenes are filmed in pretty european locations BUT darkly filmed, how many car chases can I stand? The acting is wooden, except from the dog that appears in a box that appears magically through a floor. Other acting was hopelessly poor. If they hired writers that could write, something might have happened. The question is why do some viewers rate this above 2 or 1? Maybe the ax to the hand made up for much of the poor staging in the movie. Never go to a gala dance unless you enjoy watching 20 toughs beaten up and off. Never get in a car because it will soon crash through a concrete wall. And whoever works for the government, it is preordained there is a traitor pulsing through their veins. Skip to about 1:30 so you can see the ax.

After a decade of globetrotting and attempts to evangelize Hollywood-style filmmaking in China and Arab world, Renny Harlin returns to stuff he does best.

Nine years ago, Aaron Eckhart starred in a masterful Philipp Stoelzl actioner Erased and in hie team up with Harlin he channels some of the good stuff that film brought us.

It's not just that Harlin is doing stuff he does best. It's also that he has the production environment that suits him.

He has a great cast and above all a game cast. He has Avi Lerner's Bulgarian action specialists in tow to inflict pain and have pain inflicted upon them. He has Greek locations that look great, like some shabby version of Italy. And he has 20 million bucks to spend.

And oh boy - he does deliver.

Aaron Eckhart is a great actor and he can be an action leading man anytime. Nina Dobrev found her footing here easily even though she comes from other genres. Ifenesh Hadera is femme fatale incarnate. Clifton Collins is a great villain and Tim Blake Nelson could do the ball busting boss in his sleep.

Action is old school. No gimmicks. No funny stuff. It's bone crunching fights, flesh piercing gunfights and high powered car chases. It's really well done.

Jason Bourne hit the Athens' Syntagma Square in the eponymous Paul Greengrass comeback to the franchise. Bricklayer continues where he left off and finds a nice milieu for the chicanery in volatile Greek politics. The script isn't a gamechanger but it's actually pretty decent when it comes to the setting and to the mismatched investigators element with Aaron Eckhart as a seasoned field operator and Nina Dobrev as a desk jockey trying to unleash her inner Jack Ryan.

This film could have been better. But I am not sure I would like it as much if it was.

This should have been much better, good cast, decent acting, but badly put together, and with the Worst sound staging I've ever heard in a "proper" movie ..

Very much a tale of 2 halves, the production, and production values are fine, top tier as you would expect from a seasoned cast & production...

But then when it came to the post production editing/sound boarding and the nuts & bolts of putting something like this together, it was rushed and thrown out the door... Studio problems, a Hard deadline, I dunno, but it was done very poorly, imagine doing a job for the first time, once it's done your proud and happy of what you made, then years down the line, once you've really learned your craft, you look back at it and can't believe how bad a job you did compared to how you would do it today...

That's how I felt watching this.... Started by a top dollar production company, then put out the door by the local youth club...

It's genuinely interesting to watch just for the flaws, and to try to figure out where it went pear shaped ......

...this is the kind of movie you will like. I'm not sure why all the bad reviews. There's good action and Aaron Eckhart does his usual good job. The bad guys are bad, the good guys and ladies are good, and the International scenery plays out very well.

I like the interplay between Eckhart's character and the two female leads. It was different between each one and added to the plot.

As someone with some martial arts training, I can tell you the fight sequences are well staged, although I must say that the characters can really take a punch. There are some pretty hard hits in there that would have laid me out most days.

A good movie to watch while you are on the treadmill!

Aaron does about a good a job as he can with this mess of a movie and it's still not enough to save it from sinking. For one thing, Nina doesn't fit in this at all, and she has zero chemistry with Aaron. The fight scenes are terrible, camera work is poor and the entire story doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

The process of using everyday blue collar jobs as background character hit men is getting old. It doesn't add anything to the movie, nobody cares if we have 4 minutes of screen time with a character doing mason work, or tending to bees or what have you. Save those 4 minutes of background and use it on a flash back or training or something.

This is just a simple story, and as others have said it's more of a Turdlayer than anything else. Low effort film from the same guy who produced Cutthroat Island paired with a 1st time writer. How is anyone surprised that this isn't anything more than a 1star film?

As i watched the trailer for this, i got some John Wick vibes where one retired guy is brough out of action and go on a wrecking trip against tons of bad guys. Turn out the movie is inspired a bit more by James Bond with the spy stuff while still retaining a bit of the John Wick vibes in some fights. Yet it does not get close to either of them in term of how good it is, while not being a terrible movie either.

The story while not anything special is decent enough to keep you interested, with some twists and turns along the way. Aaron Eckart (Vaile) and Nina Dobrev (Kate) have good chemistry and work well together.

When it comes to the action, you can sense they made efforts to put something visually fun, while at the same time hiding the fact that Eckhart is no Jason Statham or Scott Adkins. Basically stylish camera work and slowmos, more grounded type of fights. Overall that worked fine with me.

You do have to suspend your disbeliefs a bit much in some parts but its an action movie, that is something rather usual. That said, there was a few times i wonder if Vaile was not actually a Terminator or something, because it was pushing the "suspend your disbeliefs" concept a bit far.

I watched this movie in its original english language. As a French Canadian native i usually watch my movies dubbed in French but ocasionally watch stuff in english as well and normally i don't have much problem but there was some parts in this i really had trouble understanding what was said, especially from Aaron Eckhart.

I did read from another reviewer mentioning bad sound mixing. So its either that, Eckhart mumbling his lines a bit too much, or maybe its just me.

Overall this is one of those action movies that did its job. It entertained me for +/- 2 hours with a few beers, i wasn't bored, but its not one i will likely ever watch again. Flawed for sure, but decent. To watch on a streaming service with your subscribtion.

The Bricklayer is directed by Renny Harlin and stars Aaron Eckhart and Nina Dobrev.

This week is The Bricklayer next week is The Beekeeper. Going to be honest for a direct to video action movie dumped In the first week of January I was expecting a lot worse. Don't get me wrong this definitely has a lot of issues but for a DTV movie this looks pretty professional likely due to veteran action director Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2 and Cliffhanger) behind the camera and the Greece location actually gives this movie a sense of vibrancy and color throughout.

It was nice to see Aaron Eckhart in something again. Although after watching this I was curious on what the hell happened to his career and upon further investigation I found out that Eckhart is actually a notorious method actor so my guess is he rubbed some people the wrong way and he can't get any mainstream work anymore which is sad if true because I think he is talented. Counting this I've now seen Nina Dobrev in three movies and I'm kind of suprised she's not a big mainstream actress by now she possesses all the qualities to be one in my opinion but when she has movies like XXX: Return Of Xander Cage, The Out Laws, and now The Bricklayer on her resume you got to wonder if her agent is the problem.

So two likable lead actors, and a well shot and semi professional looking movie but unfortunately the overall story is what lets this movie down. It's just very cliche, very paint by numbers you've seen this a million times before and it's not done particularly well here either. There's a third act twist that you could see coming a mile away if you know how basic storytelling works also. Not sure if Renny Harlin and Eckhart will want to reunite for a potential sequel but honestly why wouldn't they because what else do they have going on these days.

I don't know what people expected from this film. Sure it's not Did Hard or anything, but it's a serviceable thriller while it's on and the action scenes are good and Eckhart is immensely watchable.

If you go into Bricklayer expecting high art or Oscar worthy performances, you'll be bitterly disappointed. If you going wanting a nice little thriller with domd good action scenes and a cool hero, you should be entertained.

I paid twenty bucks to watch this and I was quite happy by the end. Renny Harlins direction is sharp and Eckhart is perfect. My only gripe is the midsection dragged but that's it.

I've seen bigger budgeted films that were awful compared to this. Give it a go. It ain't that bad.

As also in keeping bees? I am not sure if it does count as ... well me explaining stuff (there is a better word for it containing man and a variation of explaining, which I won't use, so the review will not come under scrutiny) ... but here goes: there is another movie called beekeeper that's why made the comparison ... which also means no pun intended.

The action is well made and Nina Dobrev has a neat little role. So if you do not care about a movie having to be a masterpiece ... this is a decent little action movie. And it does lay a lot of weight on the stunts! Our main guy looks good doing the stuff he is supposedly .. well what is supposed to be second nature! Seen better movies, but seen worse too ... so you be the judge.

What happened to movie producers? Does anyone care about the movies they create anymore? There was a time when casting a role in a movie came down to the best actors you could get. With that said, I dont think Nina Dobrev was a good casting choice.

This movie is yet another cookie cutter secret assassin flick. There is not a whole lot of chemistry between the 2 main characters and I think Nina Dobrev is partly to blame. It doesnt seem like she's putting much effort into her role in this movie and it shows! Aaron is a good actor but when you pair a good one with one that's not putting in the effort, it brings the whole movie down. The Bricklayer is another movie that I will say is not the worst i've seen, but it is not very good either.