RONIN - Car Chase

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Ronin is a 1998 American action thriller film directed by John Frankenheimer and written by John David Zeik and David Mamet, under the pseudonym Richard Weisz. It stars an ensemble cast consisting of Robert De Niro, Jean Reno, Natascha McElhone, Stellan Skarsgård, Sean Bean, and Jonathan Pryce. The film is about a team of former special operatives hired to steal a mysterious, heavily guarded briefcase while navigating a maze of shifting loyalties. The film was praised for its realistic car chases in Nice and Paris.

Frankenheimer signed to direct Zeik's screenplay, which Mamet rewrote to expand De Niro's role and develop plot details, in 1997. The film was photographed by Robert Fraisse in his native France from November 3, 1997, to March 3, 1998. Professional racing car drivers coordinated and performed the vehicle stunts, and Elia Cmiral scored the film, his first for a major studio.

Ronin premiered at the 1998 Venice Film Festival before its general release on September 25. Critics were generally positive about the film's action, casting, and technical aspects, while the plot attracted criticism. The film underperformed at the box office, grossing $70.7 million on a $55 million budget. Ronin, Frankenheimer's last well-received feature film,[6] was considered to be a return to form for the director. Film critic and historian Stephen Prince called the film Frankenheimer's "end-of-career masterpiece". The car chases, which were favorably compared with those in Bullitt and The French Connection, were included on several media outlets' lists as among the best depicted on film.

Plot
At a bistro in Montmartre, IRA operative Deirdre meets with two Americans, Sam and Larry, and a Frenchman, Vincent. She takes them to a warehouse where the Englishman Spence and the German Gregor are waiting. Conversations between the men show that they are all ex-government agents or ex-military-turned-mercenary. Deirdre briefs the group on their mission: to attack a heavily armed convoy and steal a large, metallic briefcase. Its contents are never revealed. The team's first task before the main mission is to acquire weapons; this turns into a setup. Although the team survives and they get the weapons, Spence is exposed as a fraud by Sam. He is dismissed by Deirdre and the others continue the mission. As the team prepares, Deirdre meets with her handler, Seamus O'Rourke, who tells her that the Russian mafia is bidding for the case and that the team must intervene so that they don't get it. During a stakeout, Sam and Deirdre act on their mutual attraction.

Deirdre's team successfully ambushes the convoy at La Turbie and pursues the survivors to Nice. During the gunfight, Gregor steals the case and disappears. He negotiates selling it to the Russians, but his contact attempts to betray him. Gregor kills the contact, then has Mikhi — the Russian Mafioso in charge of the deal — agree to another meeting. The team tracks Gregor through one of Sam's old CIA contacts and corners him in the Arles Amphitheatre during his meeting with two of Mikhi's men. Sam chases Gregor; Gregor flees but is caught by Seamus. Deirdre and Vincent confront the two Russian hoods, causing a shootout. Sam arrives to help, killing one, but catches a ricochet from the other when Vincent knocks away the henchman's gun in order to kill him. Seamus kills Larry and escapes with a reluctant Deirdre and the captured Gregor. Vincent takes Sam to a villa owned by his friend, Jean-Pierre. After removing the bullet and letting Sam recuperate, Jean-Pierre compares Sam's situation to the tale of the 47 Ronin. Vincent asks Jean-Pierre to help them find Gregor and the Irish operatives.

In Paris, Gregor is persuaded through violent interrogation to give the case back to Seamus and Deirdre. After retrieving it from a post office, they are pursued by Sam and Vincent in a high-speed chase. Vincent shoots out their tire, sending their car off an overpass which is under construction. Gregor escapes with the case while road workers rescue Deirdre and Seamus from the burning vehicle. Doubtful of where to go next, Sam and Vincent decide to track down the Russians after discovering that the decoy case Gregor used in his theft of the original is used for carrying ice skates; one of Jean-Pierre's contacts informs them that the Russians are involved with figure-skater (and Mikhi's girlfriend) Natacha Kirilova, who is appearing at Le Zénith.

During Natacha's performance, Mikhi meets with Gregor, who says a sniper in the arena will shoot Natacha if Mikhi betrays him. Mikhi surprises Gregor by letting Natacha be killed by the sniper after Mikhi kills Gregor and takes the case. Amid the ensuing chaos from Natacha's shooting, Sam and Vincent leave the arena just in time to see Seamus kill Mikhi and steal the case. Sam and Vincent split up; Vincent pursues Seamus, but is wounded in a gunfight. Sam finds Deirdre waiting in a getaway car; he convinces her to leave after explaining that he is after Seamus, not the case. As she drives away, Seamus is forced to return to the arena as Sam gives chase. Seamus ambushes Sam, but is shot dead by Vincent before Seamus can kill Sam.

Sam and Vincent have coffee in the bistro where they first met. A radio broadcast announces that a peace agreement between Sinn Féin and the British government has been reached, partially as a result of Seamus's death. Sam keeps glancing at the door as patrons enter, but Vincent convinces Sam that Deirdre will not be coming back. They shake hands and part ways, but not before Vincent asks what was in the case. Sam replies that he doesn't remember. Sam drives off with his CIA contact as Vincent pays the bill and leaves.

Cast

Top-billed cast of Ronin: (clockwise from top left) Robert De Niro, Jean Reno, Stellan Skarsgård, Sean Bean, Natascha McElhone and Jonathan Pryce
Robert De Niro as Sam, an American mercenary formerly associated with the CIA. According to director John Frankenheimer, De Niro "was always dream casting" for the film.
Jean Reno as Vincent, a French gunman who befriends Sam. Frankenheimer sought to establish the friendship between Reno's and De Niro's characters, which he considered pivotal to the story, and wanted to strengthen the off-screen bond between the actors.
Natascha McElhone as Deirdre, an IRA operative commissioned to steal a briefcase by Seamus O'Rourke. An on-set dialect coach helped McElhone speak with a Northern Ireland accent. McElhone said she was thrilled to play the role because she portrayed a character that moved the action forward.
Stellan Skarsgård as Gregor, a German computer specialist formerly associated with the KGB. A fan of Skarsgård, Frankenheimer praised the Swedish actor for "bring[ing] so much to the role". Skarsgård suggested Gregor had been abandoned by his wife and son, for which he became "quite suicidal and cold".
Sean Bean as Spence, an Englishman who purports to be a firearms specialist formerly associated with the SAS. During production, Frankenheimer did not know what the future held for the character and considered having him killed off-screen after the team drives out of the warehouse, or snatched from a Paris street into a van driven by the IRA. Ultimately, he had Spence dismissed from the team. Bean described the character as egotistic and "a little bit out of his depth".
Jonathan Pryce as Seamus O'Roarke, a rogue operative in pursuit of the case through Deirdre. Like McElhone, the Welshman Pryce was coached to hone his Northern Irish accent.
Skipp Sudduth as Larry, another American and the team's designated driver. Sudduth, who had appeared in Frankenheimer's George Wallace (1997), performed most of his character's driving stunts.
Michael Lonsdale as Jean-Pierre, Vincent's friend and colleague whose pastime is creating miniatures. Frankenheimer intended to make the character a miniature artist, partially due to his own love of creating miniatures. The film was Lonsdale's third collaboration with Frankenheimer.
Jan Triska as the dapper gent, the first Russian to try and kill Gregor for the case
In addition, Féodor Atkine plays Mikhi, the Russian who is buying the case, while East German Olympic and World Champion figure skater Katarina Witt has an extended cameo as Natacha Kirilova, a Russian Olympic and World Champion figure skater.