“The Fix” opens with the New American Bible version of the verse from the Gospel of Matthew, about “war, and rumors of war,” which strikes a profound note that the picture itself, directed by Guy Moshe and boasting over 40 credited producers, can’t quite live up to. Which isn’t to say the film isn’t heavy, as in -handed. This two-hour-and-twenty-minute film about an army team burned in Kabul and resurrected to execute a heist with humanitarian side interests, so to speak, alternates between the most commonplace cliches and bathetic moments of introspection and builds to a climax of unmitigated slaughter in which your most cynical guess as to which of Our Guys buys it comes true.
In addition to sins of story and dialogue, which latter includes “Gettin’ in’s the easy part. It’s the gettin’ out that’s hard,” “Whatcha got there, boner pills?” “What the f is he doing?” “His job,” and “I don’t answer to you, Colonel! Take it up with Congress,” the movie’s also something of a bait-and-switch. Liam Neeson‘s presence suggests the application of certain “skills,” but our expectations are sunk early on. In the opening scene, Liam’s intelligence ace, named Larry, is supervising a Kabul extraction; the U.S. is seeking to extract an asset named Hamid, and they blow the job. One of the boots on the ground is Zachary Levi’s Tucker, full of beard and with shrapnel scars decorating his scowling mug. Neeson splits the scene; when asked, “Where are you going?” he responds, “To Hell.” Was this dialogue written by ChatGPT?
Before we can concoct an answer, we cut to some time later (we split from Afghanistan a while ago, remember?): April 2022, to be precise, with Tucker fly-fishing while The All-American Rejects plays. Larry is bedridden with Alzheimer’s, maybe, and Tucker pays him a visit. Larry jabbers about millions of dollars stashed away in a joint called Hotel Tehran. And boom, Tucker is on a new mission with his old boys. Their scheme ends up taking on a humanitarian bent: Iran famously oppresses its women, and the fellows combine their heist plans with a scheme to ship a busload of females out of the country too.
What could go wrong?
Quite a bit, actually, but little of what transpires is particularly compelling. The movie is a lumbering beast, and Levi, who’s been manfully seeking a suitable place in the cinema firmament since “Shazam!” over 15 years ago, can’t quite carry it. Which isn’t exactly his fault, as none of us really know what he’s supposed to be carrying. As a buddy picture, it chokes on relationships; as a heist picture, it fumbles the goods; and as an international geopolitical thriller, it doesn’t come close to sticking a landing. And it leaves more than a couple of charismatic young actors, including Quincy Isaiah and Lara Wolf, adrift.
