The Veteran

Starring: Toby Kebbell, Tony Curran, Brian Cox, Adi Bielski

Synopsis:

Robert Miller returns to London after a nightmarish tour in Afghanistan. He is soon introduced to Chris Turner, who is running an “off-the-books” operation, surveilling a terrorist cell planning a major attack in London. Miller is initially hired to tail their car, but his skills and ingenuity lead him deeper and deeper. Meanwhile, Miller meets Fahad Sahal, an old neighbour of his, who is desperately trying to get his son Ryan to leave the local gang of youths who have all but taken over his estate.

Review:

The Veteran is one of those films that come along with no fanfare, but proceed to blow your socks off. Starting off in an innocuous manner, you’d be forgiven for thinking that this is going to be a typically English kitchen sink drama, the sort of thing Ken Loach, Mike Leigh and Shane Meadows would come out with: we watch as Miller reacquaints himself with his old life: his small apartment, his run-down car, trying to find work. We also see the kids who now run the estate, especially young Ryan, who has fully embraced the gangsta lifestyle.

We also learn that Miller is trying to come to terms with a particular mission that went horribly wrong (although he managed to come out of it as a hero). Rather than try and show the scenes in flash-back, the film takes an innovative and refreshing approach. As the emotions of the memories start to overwhelm him, Miller heads for the roof of his apartment block. Standing on the roof, he starts to relive the mission, and we the audience hear the audio account as details are relayed back and forth between the men on the ground and their air support, all the while the camera places us in the skies above the estate, which eerily resembles a street-lit battle ground itself.

After a run-in with fellow soldier Danny Turner, Miller is introduced to his older brother, Chris. Chris works for a covert Government agency who have set up an operation to surveil a group of Saudi businessmen suspected of being part of a terrorist cell. Miller is put to work with Danny, tailing a suspect. These scenes should be mundane, but the authentic way the guys talk to each other over the radios and the way it’s shot make the whole sequence very compelling.

The script then takes us into “Spooks” territory, as Miller gets more and more involved, and learns things that he possibly shouldn’t. The introduction of an undercover female agent makes things even more dangerous for Miller as he starts seeing parallels with what went wrong in Afghanistan and is determined something similar doesn’t happen here.

There is plenty of action in The Veteran, and it is all excellently staged, shot and edited. There are a couple of “close-quarters” fight sequences which are well put together and look very authentic, and then there are the shoot-outs. The gun scenes are some of the most accurate you’re likely to see in a film. The attention to detail called to mind films such as Heat and Ronin. Even the cleaning of weapons – when Miller snatches an automatic that little gangsta Ryan pulls on him, the first thing he does is take it home and clean it, then when he’s confronted by the gang’s leader, he criticises him for the state the gun was in. Towards the end of the film, having obtained some bigger firepower, Miller needs to be shown how to disassemble the assault rifle he’s planning to use – because not all guns are the same. In most Hollywood movies, the only time anyone changes an ammo clip is when the script wants to add an extra bit of tension (oh no, his partner’s out of ammo, and our hero is having to share one of his clips). Not only do the weapons in The Veteran shoot a realistic amount of ammo, but we watch Miller changing clips with a smoothness which only comes with practice. And is much more real-looking than Sylvester Stallone’s ultra-quick magazine change in The Expendables.

That attention to detail pops up in other areas of the film also, such as the street gang running the estate. There’s a scene where Miller goes to see Tyrone Jones, the leader of the gang. There are a number of different layers of people between him and the apartment Tyrone resides in. There are lookouts who use loud whistles to alert those closer on the interior that a stranger is on his way in. There are others who are more active as guards, then there are those who patrol the corridors on Tyrone’s floor with pitbulls.

The plot develops into something you’d expect from Spooks/MI5 (especially the earlier series), and Miller finds himself surviving by purely expecting the worst from every moment, and from the fact that his enemies are constantly underestimating him.

The acting in The Veteran is excellent. Tony Curan has been mentioned in these pages before, and is well suited to the authoritative role he has here. Brian Cox only has a couple of scenes but has to deliver the key exposition and in lesser hands the scene wouldn’t seem as compelling. The real find here though is Toby Kebbell, totally unrecognisable from his turn as Johnny Quid in RocknRolla. Kebbell plays Miller as barely contained rage and frustration during scenes when he is alone in his apartment (viciously punching the walls is his only outlet), but in the heat of battle he is incredibly calm.

The finale of The Veteran is just devastating, tragic and amazing. As an avowed fan of Hong Kong cinema, and the genre of “heroic bloodshed” in particular, I’m quite familiar with the sight of a one-man army taking on hundreds of enemies, but this adds the aforementioned element of authenticity and shows how a man trained to kill can oppose an army of posers. It’s like when Uma Thurman kicks the yakuza’s ass in Kill Bill, snapping their store-bought swords in two with her awesome Sonny Chiba sword.

Verdict:

British thrillers don’t get much better than this. Highly recommended.

9 out of 10 (MikeOutWest)

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