Line of Duty (2019)

Directed by: Steven C. Miller | 95 minutes | action, crime | Actors: Giancarlo Esposito, Dina Meyer, Courtney Eaton, Aaron Eckhart, Ben McKenzie, Jessica Lu, David Shae, Betsy Landin, Nickola Shreli, Lindsey Garrett, Mason McCulley

In the action movie ‘Line of Duty’ we see Aaron Eckhart in the role of ‘damaged’ police officer Frank Penny. Despite a strict ban (“Don’t engage!”), he still joins the fight to arrest a kidnapper. Because he’s close. After a long chase, he shoots the kidnapper -necessarily- dead. He should have NOT done this, as the kidnapper was the only route to finding the kidnapped victim, the daughter of Police Commissioner Volk (Giancarlo Esposito from “Breaking Bad”). Fortunately, the kidnapper’s brother reports almost immediately to avenge him. Frank, who has to drag a young vlogster into his wake against his will, has only an hour to save the child. In between, he also has to resist the many attempts on his life.

This film, from director Steven C. Miller, may not even bear the B-movie stamp. Everything rattles about ‘Line of Duty’: the very unbelievable action scenes, a completely ridiculous script and protagonists who seem completely out of place. The annoying vlogger Ava (Courtney Eaton) is especially painful to watch. But also veteran Eckhart himself is seriously out of touch. It’s hard to believe he said yes to this vehicle. With ever increasing amazement we see him fail in an attempt to portray a kind of John McClane (Bruce Willis in ‘Die Hard’). Including very bad jokes.

There’s a lot of REALLY crazy about the movie. Because, why can the vlogster just crawl under the barrier tape and then listen to the police bus in her quest for ‘real full live coverage’? And how can it be that after a mile-long pursuit on foot, the kidnapper and Frank A) don’t pant or sweat at all and B) also manage to fight a couple of solid robbers along the way? Both apparently have the fitness of a marathon runner with years of MMA experience. Furthermore, the brother of the kidnapper knows how to kill many police officers, but his sights on Frank are much less sharp. In short: a lot of shooting and little hit, while still shooting with heavy equipment.

Well, then there’s the final scene. It just hurts the eyes. Alas, to spend any more words on this is a waste.
The tagline of the film is ‘The clock is ticking and the world is watching’. Be sure that the world would have preferred to put this bad product on ‘stop’ after watching for half an hour…