The Foreigner

This thriller casts Chan in a bracing, dynamic role but then wastes that potential as the story sidelines him, focusing instead on other characters in rooms explaining the plot to each other. The Foreigner could have been another Die Hard or The Fugitive, with Chan at its center as the guy who gets things done. But the way it plays now, it feels more like he's been reluctantly tacked on and could easily have been removed. This is not to disparage Brosnan, who gets a great deal more to do, and is extremely appealing, as always.

Rather, the blame rests on the filmmakers, who don't seem to trust that Chan can carry a movie in a visual, nonverbal way. Moreover, the heavy dialogue that does drive the movie can be numbingly expository and repetitive. Director Martin Campbell stages his scenes in a static way, with characters mainly sitting in rooms or barking into their cell phones. It's too bad; there's a good story here, and both Chan and Brosnan are very good when the movie allows them to be. The Foreigner could have been a great entertainment, rather than a forgettable one.