John Frankenheimer has directed a wonderful storyline with Ronin. Portrayed in the post world war era, where personal allegiance to a country came second to money and power, the movie is based on the backdrop of a deal being carried out between an Irish lady and six men specializing in explosives, theft, carrying out covert operations etc. Initially, all goes well between these six men- Robert de Neiro, Jean Reno and four others- but later mistrust and suspicion creeps in, giving the movie more twists than you would have anticipated.

Robert de Neiro executes the lead role rather well, and this high-tech movie flows smoothly through his character, giving it a totally no-tech feel. The area where the movie gains credibility of the audience is in the usage of equipment, which unlike most Bond films and other movies, is pretty real yet high-tech. The use of high-end bullet proof vests, night vision goggles, and remote controlled bombs and GPS systems adds a sense of credibility to the whole sequence of events in the movie. Most of these are common devices and therefore, their usage doesn’t appear “out of the world” to the audience.

The helping cast also does the work pretty well and no member of the movie seems to have been added just for the sake of it. Every character seems to have a well defined role.

The story of six people fighting for the “briefcase” (whose ingredients remain a mystery till the very end) takes a turn for the worst when Reno and De Neiro figure out that they are being duped. They team up and develop a bond of inter-dependence with each other- giving the movie a new direction towards the climax. Reno’s role is that of a thorough professional while De Neiro does the plotting for most part of the movie- making both of them a classic duo in the film. The movie therefore, is definitely worth the money.