THE DOORMAN (2020) Reviews and overview

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‘Be careful who you trust’

The Doorman is a 2020 American action thriller about a former marine who returns from combat and reconnects with family in New York City. Meanwhile, a gang of thieves plot to take the family’s valuables, so she is all that stands between them and their lives.

Directed by Ryûhei Kitamura (Nightmare Cinema; The Midnight Meat Train; Godzilla: Final Wars; Versus) from a screenplay co-written by Lior Chefetz and Joe Swanson, based on a story by Greg Williams and Matt McAllester. The movie stars Ruby Rose, Jean Reno, Aksel Hennie, Rupert Evans and Julian Feder.

Reviews:

“It has a brilliant opening sequence segue that really sets the tone of the film and it delivers more than enough in the action and spectacle department. It’s always a delight seeing Jean Reno on-screen, Aksel Hennie was a killer villain and the diverse group of henchmen certainly lit up the screen in their own respective ways.” Creasy007

“This most resembles an old Jean Claude Van Damme vehicle.  Since the genre is mostly male-dominated, does having a woman in the lead role make the film any more interesting? Actually, yes. Does it make the film any better? Not even for the briefest tiniest millisecond…” A Debt to Pleasure

“Decent enough DTV junk […] Thankfully, Ryûhei Kitamura directs and saves the whole thing with his usual over the top violence that momentarily makes you forget that Steve de Souza could probably sue for out and out plagiarism during certain scenes.” Jacob Knight

“Sluggish, drab, generic, with competent but unenthusiastic work from Kitamura. Jean Reno appears to have taken too many Xanax. Ruby Rose should be carrying better stuff than this.” Matt Lynch

“Whether the original script was so poorly written that a second pair of writers were needed just to elevate the film into sub-mediocre territory is anyone’s guess, but based on the execrable onscreen results directed by Kitamura in unusually somnambulant form, The Doorman isn’t worth the time or effort to track it down…” Screen Anarchy

“If like me, you watch this expecting a Kitamura film you’ll be disappointed. There are no real traces of his style and talent in The Doorman. I’m guessing he was brought on as a director for hire, (he’s not even mentioned on the poster), handed the script, and told to deliver a typical Walmart rack filler. And if that’s what you’re watching it for, it should satisfy you.” Voices from the Balcony

The Doorman could have been a great vehicle for Ruby Rose. However, shoddy story elements and some less than exciting action make this well, a meh movie but does show some redemption in its final action scene.” World Film Geek

Release:

The Doorman will premiere on Digital and On Demand on October 9th 2020 and on Blu-ray + Digital and standard DVD on October 13th 2020 via Lionsgate Movies. Buy via Amazon.com

Cast and characters:

Ruby Rose … Ali
Jean Reno … Victor Dubois
Aksel Hennie … Borz
Rupert Evans … Jon Stanton
Julian Feder … Max
David Sakurai … Andre
Louis Mandylor … Martinez
Hideaki Itô … Leo
Kíla Lord Cassidy … Lily Stanton
Philip Whitchurch … Uncle Pat
Andreea Androne … Nira
Jamie Satterthwaite … Olsen
Jo Marr … Fireman Joe
Andreea Vasile … U.S. Ambassador
Raynor van de Water … Officer Griggs
Natalya Tsvetkova … Shop Girl
Puiu Mircea Lascus … Cab Driver
Cosmin Diacu … Driver
Tiberiu Harsan … Bear Carlton
Dan Cade … Phil Narcum

Filming locations:

Bucharest, Romania
New York, New York (brief exterior shots)

Technical details:

85 minutes

Trailer:

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