''The Samaritan'', known as ''Fury'' in the United Kingdom, is a 2012 Canadian

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

co-written and directed by David Weaver, and starring Samuel L. Jackson. A trailer was released on its website.

Plot

Foley gets out of prison after 25 years, for killing his best friend and grifting partner. His partner's son, Ethan, takes him to Xavier's nightclub and tries to recruit him into a grift he's planning, and Foley turns it down, saying he wants to go straight. Ethan goes to the kitchen area where Xavier is dealing with someone who has been caught stealing from him. Xavier leaves it with Ethan to recover the stolen money. When his initial efforts fail, Ethan sets in motion a plan that leads Foley to come to the aid of Iris, a young addict being harassed in a bar. Foley and Iris eventually enter into a relationship, and she reveals that she is in financial debt to Ethan. After Foley and Iris have started sleeping together, Ethan reveals to Foley that Iris is his daughter. He uses her as leverage to force Foley to do the job. Ethan has sent Jake to Iris's apartment to kill her, and Foley races to save her. Foley sends a battered Jake back to Xavier. Foley visits Iris's grandmother who confirms Iris's identity and is sickened by the unintended incest. The grift is put into place, and it's revealed that Xavier is the mark. Foley's female accomplice is found hanging having committed suicide, Iris takes her place in the scam. During the grift to con Xavier out of $8 million, and after a series of altercations between Foley, Xavier, Ethan and Iris, Iris is wounded by Ethan, and she reveals that she had eventually deduced that Foley is her father. Ethan is shot and wounded, Xavier tries to escape but is killed by Foley. Foley returns to Iris who is again shot and mortally wounded by Ethan, Foley then kills Ethan. Foley rushes away to a doctor with his daughter who is desperate for a blood transfusion to save her life. Foley volunteers as he is a compatible blood type, but dies during the procedure. Iris flees to a far away land, she visits a bank and checks that the money from the grift is in her account.

Cast

* Samuel L. Jackson as Foley *

Luke Kirby Luke Farrell Kirby (born June 29, 1978) is a Canadian actor. He played the role of Lenny Bruce in the Amazon Prime Video comedy-drama series '' The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel'', for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Acto ...

as Ethan *

Ruth Negga Ruth Negga ( ; born 4 May 1981) is an Irish actress known for her roles in the AMC television series ''Preacher'' (2016–2019) and the film '' Loving'' (2016). For her portrayal of Mildred Loving in the latter, Negga received a nomination for ...

as Iris *

Deborah Kara Unger Deborah Kara Unger (born 12 May 1966) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her roles in the films '' Highlander III: The Sorcerer'' (1994), '' Crash'' (1996), '' The Game'' (1997), '' Payback'' (1999), '' The Hurricane'' (1999), ''White Nois ...

as Helena *

Martha Burns Martha Burns (born 23 April 1957)"Martha Burns ret ...

as Gretchen * Alan C. Peterson as Miro *

Aaron Poole Aaron Poole (born March 17, 1977) is a Canadian actor. Early life Poole grew up in Barrie, Ontario and attended Barrie Central Collegiate. He is a graduate of the Etobicoke School of the Arts and George Brown College. He is of Italian descent. ...

as Jake *

Tom McCamus Tom McCamus (born July 25, 1955Tom McCamus' bio
at www.northernstars.ca) is a Canadia ...

as Deacon *

Tom Wilkinson Thomas Geoffrey Wilkinson (5 February 1948 – 30 December 2023) was an English actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen, he received numerous accolades including a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award as well ...

as Xavier *

Gil Bellows Gil Bellows (born June 28, 1967) is a Canadian actor, producer, screenwriter, and director. Upon graduating from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, he began acting in films and television. Bellows also earned critical acclaim for his stage p ...

as Bartender Bill

Release

The film was released as ''Fury'' on April 20, 2012 in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. The film was released as ''The Samaritan'' in a "pre-theatrical release" through Time Warner Cable's on-demand channel.

Reception

Roger Ebert
gave it three stars out of four saying "One difference between film noir and more straightforward crime pictures is that noir is more open to human flaws and likes to embed them in twisty plot lines. "The Samaritan" isn't a great noir, but it's true to the tradition and gives Samuel L. Jackson one of his best recent roles."

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

similarly praised the film saying "A rock solid Samuel L. Jackson adeptly anchors the twists and turns of this noir crime thriller." Despite these top critic reviews, on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film has an approval rating of 26% based on 35 reviews, with an average rating of 4.3/10. The site's consensus reads, "''The Samaritan'' is a ludicrous neo-noir starring a seemingly bored Samuel L. Jackson." On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 37 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".

References

External links