Keepers

One review on Rotten tomatoes and it is positive for Gerry and movie 3 out of 4 fresh rating you can read the entire review here -
rogersmovienation.com/2018/12/29/movie-review-the-vanishing/

Movie Review: Gerard Butler, Peter Mullan show their grit in “The Vanishing”
Posted on December 29, 2018 by rogerinorlando


One thing you learn in this business, never write a good actor off. Whatever trap he or she has fallen into, whatever their overhead has become that drives the sorts of payday pictures they make, the good ones are never more than one expectations-defying role away from reminding you why they seemed special, back in the beginning.

Gerard Butler hasn’t made a Scottish ensemble piece like “The Vanishing” since long before he saddled up on the “Olympus has Fallen” franchise and began collecting “Den of Thieves” checks (he’s doing a sequel to that, too.). He settles nicely into a supporting role in this period piece, a thriller that speculates on a famous disappearance among the lighthouse keepers of the Flannan Isles.

Three Outer Hebrides lighthouse keepers disappeared in 1900, leaving behind no clue as to what might have become of them. “The Vanishing” leans hard on a very conventional solution, a plot that throws the three men into contact with a treasure.

Introduce a little gold into the equation, and you’ve got “The Treasure of Sierra Madre” at sea — a tale of greed, treachery, mistrust and bloody violence.

Veteran character actor Peter Mullan is Thomas, the widowed senior man at their remote station. Connor Swindells (sharp, naive) is young Donald, the new guy learning “the ropes.” And the care and maintenance of the light, maintenance that includes handling deadly quicksilver that was used to lubricate the rotating Fresnel lens.

James (Butler) is the experienced man, the one with the family, and a sense of humor.

“What does this do, then?”

“It’s a foghorn.”

“When d’ye use it?”

“When it’s foggy, Donald.”

The two old hands josh the new guy as they pluck dinner out of the crabs in the surf, check the anenometer (wind gauge) to log the weather conditions and struggle with the balky that works a fraction of the time.

Their routine is shattered the moment a rowboat washes up in the rocks. A nordic looking brute is washed up with it. With a small trunk. Sending the new guy down to check on him rouses the “drowned” man to a fury, and old Donald’s desperation saves him. The cast away flipped out that they were taking his chest....

He sees the inherent threat in their situation and gives orders accordingly — “Do exactly as I say,” and “All you have to do is keep your bloody mouth shut.”

........

Danish director Krystoffer Nyholm doesn’t clutter “The Vanishing,” keeping it a stark, brutal thriller, a morality tale that reminds us that taking a life never comes easily or can be taken lightly.

The violence here is brutal, savage and personal — and filled with regret.

I’ve been a fan of the gruff, working class tough Mullan (“Hostiles,””Welcome to the Punch,” “Sunshine on Leith,””Tommy’s Honour”) for years and this makes a grand vehicle for his brand of Scots crustiness.

Butler sheds the bravado of too many years in Hollywood actioners and finds a family man torn by remorse, greed and the madness that can come from violence only given consequences after the fact.

The brogues are thick enough to warrant subtitles, but the actions are so primal as to require no dialogue to follow every wrinkle in the plot, every nuance in the tragedy we see unfold.

“The Vanishing” manages to shock even as it fails to truly surprise, a movie that takes a worn situation and wrings fresh pain out of it as it reaches — over-reaches — to solve a mystery that is probably even more mysterious than whatever the screenwriter’s cooked up.

And in taking a step away from the one-liners, the shootouts and B-action movies, Butler reminds us of the soulful Scot he used to play before “300” made him an action hero.

A second review on RT.  SLant Magazine. 3 out of 4 stars

www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/the-vanishing

quote - "Butler, looking rawer and puffier than usual, gets to showcase his acting chops in a way he doesn’t in films like Geostorm. At first, he nails that valuable movie-star trick of embodying the everyman many audience members relate to, a sort of blankness that avoids being bland. But later, he goes deeper and darker, mentally unraveled by all the killings, unable to cope with the bloodshed

 Are that good reviews continue for Gery's performance in the Vanishing,,, the movie's pace bring slow is getting mentioned but this review is saying a lot about Gerry's performance

www.pophorror.com/movie-review-kristoffer-nyholms-the-vanishing-2018/?fbclid=IwAR3leL5RJzTmQbxD_VTgCucm16EGm_9EJiKJzCWKVzo1H3HTdifmo9AZa9c

just one of the positive quotes in this review--


"The Vanishing makes better use of Gerard Butler than most Gerard Butler movies. Close-ups hang on his bloodied face, letting us decide if his expression reads exhaustion, underwhelmed amusement or impending death for someone within arm’s reach. His native accent serves friendly jabs and double-edged threats with the same gravity. The man looks like a lighthouse keeper, or at least like he belongs in chunky cable-knit sweaters.

If you’ve ever turned up your nose at a Gerard Butler project, The Vanishing might be the movie to change your mind. Finding another thriller with its one-of-a-kind setting, style or admirably bitter aftertaste would be tough. Finding its star in better form would be nigh impossible."

I love this quote from LA Times review:

"Butler, though, is a pleasant surprise, departing from his usual one-dimensional action heroes to play a dramatic part — and so well that one wonders why he doesn’t do it more often."

I know that this is after only five reviews but it's really nice to see it.... 😁

Just noticed that my cable provider has the movie available on demand,so I guess I will be watching it tonight on my tv screen 🤓🍿🍿

I watched it last night, it's a really good movie. Unfortunatelly I couldn't understand everything, the Scottish accent is not really easy, but I really enjoyed with it. I hope he is proud of it.