In The Line Of Duty: Out Now To Rent and Buy

In The Line Of Duty (2020)
Directed by: Steven C. Miller
Written by: Jeremy Drysdale
Starring: Aaron Eckhart, Ben McKenzie, Courtney Eaton, Dina Meyer, Giancarlo Esposito, Jan Jeffcoat, Jessica Lu

Aron Eckhart runs a lot and shows off his action skills, as a cop trying to save a kidnapped young girl, while every move he makes is filmed by a vlogger in this daft and silly actioner…

There are times when you are watching a film that a moment will arrive that will have you on gripping your armchair. It could be tension soaked suspenseful scene that will have you in awe, or a frightful scary set-piece that will have you drooling at what could happen next!

There is also a third reason in why you are gripping so tightly and while there are a few occasions littered in this film that could have you needing to replace your chair, the main moment comes fifteen minutes in. Its when Eckhart’s cop, Frank Penny who already has been on a madcap chase as soon as the credits roll, bumps into vlogger Ava (Courtney Eaton) and willingly lets her join him -no questions asked-in which she films his every move.

This ridiculous concept will have you holding onto that grip and deciding there and then if you are going to waste anymore time in watching such a daft idea as you can imagine what Jack Bauer would have done if he was faced with a same problem. Knowing the history of Jack, she would have been revealed as a mole and would be dead in five minutes, but hopefully you get my point!

If you can get past the many scenes of stupidity on offer, then in an odd way there is something really enjoyable to take from In The Line Of Duty, In many ways in shares a lot in common with 24 in that is has a non stop pace to it, a race against the clock situation and a lead that doesn’t know when to stop.

Breaking Bad’s Giancarlo Esposito is the Police Chief whose daughter gets kidnapped and the only lead ends up being gunned down by Frank who just happened to be in the area. With his gun removed and being told to go home, Frank decides for no reason to team up with Ava who had filmed his confrontation with the kidnapper.
Everything Frank does is streamed live on the net which is eventually picked up by a news outlet and with the kidnapper’s brother – Gotham’s Ben McKenzie, surprisingly good as the bad guy – vowing revenge, the stage is set for endless action scenes that honestly never get tiresome.

I am not going to pretend that is this anything but a daft film, but when you get the sense that everyone involved knows this too, then you can not help but enjoy.Eckhart in particular seems to be having a blast and makes a welcome good guy, handling the fight scenes with aplomb and his infectious energy, suits the tone that the film is so desperate to achieve.

The Social Media aspect tries to add something different, with at times onscreen graphics, portraying what is being shown on the internet. A much better film will portray this better, but to be fair while it really doesn’t add anything to the story, it doesn’t distract either.

Its all entertaining enough and makes you forget the lack of chemistry between the two leads and while the film stretches its own ludicrous plotting to the point of breaking point, even including a cheesy finale that will have you laughing out loud. In The Line Of Duty does enough to make it a “switch off the brain cells” kind of time and will be instantly forgotten, as soon as the final credits appear.

Besides, any film who still has the confidence to add the cliché fighting set-piece of “hanging off a helicopter”, more or less deserves at least a look….right??

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