Bit Of Raspberry Jam Back There!!!

There's not many movies than can admit to having a truly great, exhilarating car chase. Bullitt, The French Connection, Mad Max 2, The Bourne Supremacy (and a handful more)...there's not many, but John Frankenheimer's 1998 thriller Ronin can proudly claim three, through the towns, cities and countryside of France. Great choreography with the vehicles, a great mix of mastershots to establish geography of the chases, close ups of the cars tearing through narrow streets at 100mph and some classic ,old fashioned, brutal stuntwork means that Ronin stands high above most thrillers...and that's before you introduce little things like story and characters.

Ronin follows a small, highly trained team of independent contractors who are hired to obtain a mysterious briefcase for their Irish employers. Like Pulp Fiction, the content of the case is unimportant, as the film focuses on the code of conduct, values and friendships in the intelligence community...even for those working outside of government authority. Despite it having a late 60's, early 70's look and feel Ronin feels fresh thanks to the high quality of everything in it from the script, direction and the magnificent ensemble cast including an on-fire DeNiro, Jean Reno, devious Stellan Skarsgard, aloof Natasha McElhone and ruthless bastard Jonathan Pryce.

Let's not forget to praise a young Sean Bean as a jittery merc claiming to be an ex-S.A.S. operative. His nervous, laddish cry of, "Bit of raspberry jam back there!" when referring to the gunfight he's just escaped from , has now entered in legend and must be repeated in a Newcastle accent anytime Bean appears on screen in any medium.
Classic.