''The Bricklayer'' is a 2023 American

action thriller film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

directed by

Renny Harlin Renny Harlin (born Renny Lauri Mauritz Harjola; 15 March 1959) is a Finnish film director, Film producer, producer, and screenwriter who has worked in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood, Europe, and Cinema of China, China. His best-known film ...

and written by Hanna Weg and Matt Johnson, based on the 2010 novel of the same name by Paul Lindsay under his

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

Noah Boyd, and starring

Aaron Eckhart Aaron Edward Eckhart (born March 12, 1968) is an American actor. Born in Cupertino, California, Eckhart moved to the United Kingdom at an early age. He began his acting career by performing in school plays, before moving to Australia for his hi ...

Nina Dobrev Nikolina Kamenova Dobreva (; born January 9, 1989), known professionally as Nina Dobrev ( ), is a Canadian actress. She is known for portraying Elena Gilbert and Katherine Pierce in The CW's supernatural drama series ''The Vampire Diaries'' (20 ...

Tim Blake Nelson Timothy Blake Nelson (born May 11, 1964) is an American actor, writer, and director. Described as a "modern character actor", his roles include Delmar O'Donnell in ''O Brother, Where Art Thou?'' (2000), Gideon in ''Minority Report (film), Minori ...

Ilfenesh Hadera Ilfenesh Hadera is an American actress. Early life Hadera was raised in Harlem, New York. She identifies as half Ethiopian and half white. Her father is an Ethiopian refugee and founder of the African Services Committee, a Harlem-based organizat ...

, and

Clifton Collins Jr. Clifton Craig Collins Jr. (born June 16, 1970) is an American film and television actor. He is a Primetime Emmy Award, Independent Spirit Award, Satellite Award, and four-time ALMA Award nominee, and a Screen Actors Guild Award winner. Prior t ...

The film was released on January 5, 2024 in the United States by

Vertical Entertainment Vertical (formerly Vertical Entertainment) is an American independent film distribution company founded by producers Rich Goldberg and Mitch Budin in 2012. Vertical releases films across all mediums, including theatrical, video on demand, physica ...

Plot

Steve Vail, a former CIA field agent, is a bricklayer when the CIA agent recruits him to track down the killer of three international journalists who have been murdered within a month, including Greta Becker, an outspoken critic of

U.S. intelligence The United States Intelligence Community (IC) is a group of separate U.S. federal government intelligence agencies and subordinate organizations that work to conduct intelligence activities which support the foreign policy and national secur ...

activities across the world, and the CIA is being framed as being responsible. Kate, a junior CIA agent assigned to the case, and CIA Director O'Malley meet and inform him that Radek, a former operative and friend of Steve who was believed to be dead, was responsible for the murders, believing that he wants revenge against the agency for leaving him to die after a botched mission and the death of his family. Vail refuses due to Kate's inexperience. One night, Vail is attacked by Radek's men, but he kills them. Steve heads for

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

with Kate, and Steve meets his old friend, Patricio, and ditches Kate at the hotel in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

to meet with his former lover and undercover agent, Tye. She tells him that former informant-turned-gangster Sten might have information about Radek. At a pool party, Steve confronts Sten and fights with his security before Kate arrives to help him escape; having to follow him through a tracker she planted on him, Steve had already placed her tracker on Sten so he would lead them to Radek. Kate questioned Steve about Radek, and he revealed that he was working undercover for the Russian and Greek mafia and that the CIA would provide asylum for his family; however, his cover was blown, and the mafia killed his family. Radek went rogue and killed the mafia, forcing the agency to send Steve to kill Radek. They follow the tracker to Sten's residence, where Steve discovers hidden documents in a brick wall, and Kate finds Becker's phone. Sten's assistant enters the house and fights Steve. Kate hesitates, failing to shoot the man before Steve kills him. Patricio decrypts the phone, and they learn that Radek's next target is Alekos Melas, a critic of U.S. intelligence. Steve suddenly receives a call from Radek and tells him that the agency blew his cover because he couldn't complete one of their assignments: to assassinate a Greek politician, so he's blackmailing them for revenge. Radek kills Alekos and escapes from the team. Steve visits Tye, who reveals that she knew of Radek before Steve came to her. He and Kate find Patricio dead after Radek tortured him. Sten and his henchmen arrive to kill Steve and Kate after being ordered by Radek, but they use a bomb strapped to Patricio's dead body as a booby-trap, killing Sten and the rest of the henchmen. Steve and Kate return to the U.S. to meet O'Malley, who tells him that Radek threatened to leak the agency's covert activities worldwide unless they paid him $100 million. O'Malley removes Steve from the mission after the difficulties he has caused with local police and sends Kate to deliver the ransom, but Steve takes over Kate's place and delivers the money to Radek in a computer in a basement. When the transfer was complete, Radek makes a video call to Steve, knowing he would be the one to deliver the money. He blames Steve for failing to protect his family despite faking his death before and plans to assassinate the Greek prime minister, Kostas, putting the blame on the agency before rigging a bomb. Steve escapes the blast, and he and Kate pursue Radek to public speaking of Kostas. Steve uses a sledgehammer to knock the platform, causing Radek to miss. Steve apologizes to Radek, who provokes Steve into killing him. After being hospitalized, O’Malley comes to cover for Steve, and Radek's manifestos are recovered before the authorities can see them, but the money is never recovered. Steve deduces that Tye was the real culprit who had been helping Radek leak the agency's activities and stole the ransom money. Tye's men arrive to kill Steve, but he manages to kill all of them with a bomb. Tye attempts to kill Steve, but Kate arrives and shoots Tye, causing her to crash and kill her. Afterward, Kate resigns from the agency, and Steve returns to his bricklayer job.

Cast

as Vail, a former

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

operative and bricklayer *

as Kate, a junior CIA agent working with Vail *

as Radek, a former operative and friend of Vail *

as O'Malley, the Director of the CIA *

as Tye, CIA Thessaloniki Station Chief *

Ori Pfeffer Ori Pfeffer (; born July 28, 1975) is an Israeli actor with the film and TV career in Israel and the United States. Personal life Pfeffer was born in Jerusalem, Israel. In the Israel Defense Forces, he served first at the Golani Brigade T ...

as Sten

Production

The film was announced in August 2011, with

Gerard Butler Gerard James Butler (born 13 November 1969) is a Scottish actor and film producer. After studying law, he turned to acting in the mid-1990s with small roles in productions such as '' Mrs Brown'' (1997), the James Bond film ''Tomorrow Never ...

set to star and produce. In January 2022, it was announced that Eckhart would replace Butler as the lead. In February 2022, it was announced that Dobrev joined the cast. Later that same month, it was announced that Tim Blake Nelson and Clifton Collins Jr. joined the cast. In May 2022, it was reported that Hadera was also cast.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

began in

, Greece, in March 2022. Filming took place at Nu Boyana Film Studios in Bulgaria and Greece.

Release

In May 2022, it was reported that Screen Media acquired the North American distribution rights to the film. However,

was reported in October 2023 to have picked up the rights and set a January 5, 2024

day-and-date release A simultaneous release, also known as a day-and-date release, is the release of a film on multiple platforms—most commonly theatrical, home video and video on demand (VOD)—on the exact same day, or in very close proximity to each other. This ...

in the United States.

Critical reception

Dennis Harvey of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote: "There may be nothing memorable enough here to stir great enthusiasm for another Steve Vail outing, given basic genre components sufficiently generic to seem more MacGruber than

007 The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

. But while you're watching, Harlin and company provide a fun ride".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bricklayer 2023 Film 2023 films 2023 action thriller films 2020s American films 2020s English-language films American action thriller films Films about the Central Intelligence Agency Films based on American thriller novels Films directed by Renny Harlin Films set in Philadelphia Films set in Thessaloniki Films shot at Nu Boyana Film Studios Films shot in Greece Nu Image films Vertical (film company) films English-language action thriller films