Aaron Eckhart goes Belgium.
7/10
Author: Lorenz Dekeyser from Belgium
23 September 2012

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Before I entered the theaters in Belgium, The Expatriate was an enigma. I couldn't find any reviews or critics about this movie. That's why I'm making a review myself now.

In The Expatriate Aaron Eckhart plays Ben Logan,a security specialist who works for Halgate a big corporation. He works for the Belgian part of the company, living with his daughter in Antwerp. Throughout the movie we learn that nothing is what it looks like.

The movie is mostly filmed in Belgium,in the big cities Brussels and Antwerp. To me, Belgium gives a very dark and slightly poor impression, aside from the international corporate buildings. That's not exactly true in real life, but it gives a certain feel to the film.

Aaron Eckhart is the lead actor, and gives a good performance. He really carries the film. Liana Libertaro was a pleasant surprise, you could really relate to her character. The biggest disappointment was Olga Kurylenko, she played a seemingly useless character with whom you feel no emotional connection.

The film is a low budget movie, which is an advantage, rather than a disadvantage. The movie feels very real, as if it could really happen. The story is not a typical Hollywood movie story, with a good pace and characters you can really relate to. You will be entertained when you go watch it.

Erased or Expatriate--same fast, kinetic, well done boilerplate film
7/10
Author: secondtake from United States
18 September 2013

Erased (2012)

Can we make a new genre here? British/American executive/spy/father gets in trouble in Europe and has to go on the run with corporate/government/counterspy evil everywhere.

I could list some (never mind the great Bourne films, which are extremes of the type). Certainly the "Taken" films (there are three now) are the closest parallel, but even "The International" comes to mind in the same vein. All of these have a sense of fear and darkness about the global order that glooms down on the characters.

And "Erased" is powerfully made, with good claustrophobic and jittery camera-work, believable acting, and a reasonable (if roughly familiar) plot. You get swept up quickly, as Aaron Eckhart juggles a high-security job and a teenage daughter going to private school. Through a quick (a peanut allergy) he avoids an early death and the movie takes off.

All along the daughter is both emotional fodder for the feeling side of the film and a bit of a formative action figure (now and then). But it's dad who is really showing his smarts and fighting skills as an ex-CIA man.

Set in beautiful Belgium, the scenes range from those gorgeous old Europe streets and government buildings to the new Europe and high end glass corporate life. And then to the new, growing minority areas where Arabs and other Muslims live. Part of this emphasis might come from the main writer on the story, Arash Amel, who surely paints the division of cultures in a sympathetic way.

Director Philip Stolzl is one of the newer generation of German mainstream directors with an eye for sweeping fast visuals and a solid plot ("North Face" is highly recommended). He, perhaps too much like Tom Tykwer, is taking a detour into some well-worn territory here, but showing his chops. Expect to never be bored, to never know quite what might happen next, and to enjoy the ride kinetically. Even if nothing quite original happens. Ever.

A Nutshell Review: The Expatriate
7/10
Author: DICK STEEL from Singapore
2 February 2013

The Expatriate is one film that had the misfortune of having its trailer tell the entire story.(Qu'est ce que je dis à propos de ces SA-LO-PE-RIES de trailers !!?) Whoever did this promo clip ought to have taken a long hard look at his or her final work, and wonder how it could have been done without revealing too much. Making it worse is the admiration for Taken with the kidnapping of a daughter with the father in high pursuit, which gives the unfair impression that this is a cheap knock off, which it is not.

Written by Arash Amel and directed by German Philipp Stolzl, The Expatriate is almost like a Jason Bourne movie, with lead character Ben Logan (Aaron Eckhart) exhibiting a particular skillset that surprises his daughter Amy (Liana Liberato), who had gone to Brussels in order to spend some quality Dad time, only for the world as she knows go into a topsy-turvy. They get shot at multiple times by different pursuers, have the cops looking for them, and his dad's co-workers all wind up dead. To make matters worse, they have to discover why they're in someone else's bad books, and have to make it out alive when odds become increasingly stacked against them.

But it went from Bourne to Taken with that kidnapping of Amy, though thankfully it was something more of an unnecessary sub-arc just to get Ben to be acting alone in the climax, with the villains using her as a bargaining chip to keep Ben at bay. In essence, this turned out to be a standard action thriller that involves big bad corporations and covert agencies with sneaky agents who are comfortable out their doing the dirty work for whoever can pay a good price.

Not to mention some behind the scenes,under table collaboration and influence that corrupt corporation big wigs have over those in the seat of power, since any campaign requires backing,usually of the financial kind.Here, we see how corporations obtain inside knowledge from those who can be bought, which makes it especially easy when these officials also have a selfish interest to pursue. In The Expatriate, this involves technology, framing, and the need to obtain classified documents so that they can either be altered or destroyed to avoid further implication, especially when something else gains worldwide attention, and further investigation would bring to light many embarrassing points.

Aaron Eckhart remains one of my favourite character actors, but as an action hero, I'm afraid not. The filmmakers tried to cover up using very Bourne techniques of fast edits and quick cuts, but it's too obvious Eckhart is no fighter, and was found a little bit wanting in action scenes. Those that require a little more brains than brawn, highlighting his skill as a black ops engineer, was more believable. And there was a bit on the details gone into assembling a briefcase bomb as well, though not as instructional for obvious reasons.

Liana Liberato would likely polarize audiences though, because her character's too whiny, and complains at almost every stage the father-daughter pair find themselves in. Although proving to be useful at times, Liana did her best with the unpopular role of whining for the most parts. And having Olga Kurylenko was nothing more than a coup to have an additional recognizable name on the marquee, her role being pretty small, used to explain some romantic liaisons between Ben and her Anna Brandt,whose loyalty gets severely questioned and a flip-flopper when it comes to making decisions.

With an ending that depended largely on the bad guys' over-confidence that bordered on arrogance and ignorance, it was a tad too convenient, though one that would leave audiences cheering, as if having watched a feel good film. Production values are top notch for a studio film, with Belgium being used extensively on location to bring about that Europe-chic feel that's fast becoming locations that any self-respective action-thriller must have. Recommend!

Edgy High Tech Thriller!
7/10
Author: JockStein from Charlotte, NC United States
6 September 2013

With the aesthetically pleasing cities of Brussells and Antwerp as the back drop, this exciting international thriller opens full throttle and keeps the pulse rate steady throughout. This movie contains all the necessary ingredients for success, including action, suspense, mystery and intrigue. Aaron Eckhart does well in this starring role and is ably assisted by a solid, mostly European cast which only adds authenticity to the movie.

While not quite in the same class as "Bourne" or "Taken", it is never the less a strong effort from German born director Phillip Stolzl that will keep fans of this genre more than satisfied. Like a great meal enjoyed in a fine restaurant that lingers in your memories for days afterward, this motion picture sits well on the palate and will be recalled long after the credits have closed.

Solid Thriller
7/10
Author: albrechtcm from United States
19 October 2013

Overall this was a good solid thriller. A pretty much average employee comes to work one morning to find his office is empty and learns that the company he works for never heard of him or the office in which he worked. Pretty good start to a mystery compounded by a teenage daughter who feels, not unjustly, neglected. Both are abruptly thrust into a life and death situation with bad guys after them and the police are after them too. Most, perhaps all, the exteriors are in Belgium and it's always fun to see European cities by day and by night. Performances were all good. The main hit man was another Banat from "Journey into Fear" and all the bad guys were bad.

My single big complaint, unfortunately inserting a spoiler here, is that up until a certain point in the film where we learn Mr. Eckart is an ex-CIA hit-man, he is every inch the humble office worker, completely dumbfounded and barely able to cope with even amateur tough guys. Once we establish his real identity, he becomes 007, McClane and a Terminator all in one, instantly revealing himself to be an extremely resourceful man capable not only of handling himself, but he is very creative. Too bad he couldn't have put some of that to good use early on, but then of course, we would only have had a fifteen minute short.