Film: The Bricklayer
Cast: Aaron Eckhart, Nina Dobrev, Tim Blake Nelson, Ilfenesh Hadera, Clifton Collins Jr., Oliver Trevena, Orie Pfeffer 
Director: Renny Harlin
Rating: 2.5/5
Runtime: 110 min

In the traditions of ‘The Mechanic’ comes ‘The Bricklayer.’ Seems like Hollywood is running out of ideas for presenting highly skilled assassins and so is resorting to traditional job titles to lend them an edge. The Bricklayer, an espionage thriller, is based on a novel published in 2010 by Noah Boyd (real-life retired FBI agent Paul Lindsay). Director Harlin, better known for aces like Die Hard 2 (1990), Cliffhanger (1993), The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996) and Deep Blue Sea (1999), is obviously on a downward spiral but this film is not as forgettable as it may seem at first.

Someone is blackmailing the CIA by assassinating foreign journalists and the agency is drawing flak for it. So, before the world unites against the U.S., the CIA hopes to get cracking by luring its most brilliant and rebellious operative Steve Vail (Aaron Eckhart) who happens to have a side job as a bricklayer, into confronting his checkered past while unraveling an international conspiracy.