Outspoken actor Zachary Levi takes on an action role in “The Fix,” produced by Inaugural Entertainment. Guy Moshe directs the film and co-writes the screenplay with Mark Bacci and Ron Hutchinson.
Set in 2021, at the end of the war in Afghanistan, the film introduces Larry (Liam Neeson), who leads a CIA operative team led by Tucker (Levi). The rest of the team includes Alex (Wes Chatham), Charlie (Jake Choi), Bruce (Augusto Aguilera), and new hire Clay (Quincy Isaiah), a former Navy SEAL.
Their latest mission doesn’t go as planned, leading the team into trouble. A few years later, Larry is in the early stages of dementia, and the team has gone their separate ways, viewed as disgraced. Larry’s former boss, James (Titus Welliver), tells Tucker that there may be money hidden from their last mission. With disillusionment fresh in his mind, Tucker sets out to reunite the team, journey to Tehran, and secure a life-changing score.
The film’s opening credits feature the verse from Matthew 24:6-8, which states: “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.”
From the beginning, I had a slight grimace as Levi seemed to be trying to force his views on the audience. However, as the film progressed, I could see how the verse tied into the overall plot. It appears the creative team aimed for a film that echoes the legendary quote from “The Simpsons”: “Inside every man is a struggle between good and evil that cannot be resolved.”
The men in the film are, for the most part, good men, but if the system has wronged them, do they have the right to seek retribution? Unfortunately, the film’s slow pace and half-hearted ideas don’t fully cohere over its nearly 2.5-hour runtime.
Liam Neeson seems to be going through the motions and appears bored in the role of the grizzled mentor. Zachary Levi tries his best to elevate the material, but the script is pedestrian. In his previous film, “Sarah’s Oil,” I could overlook Levi’s political views, but here his performance feels like he’s merely fulfilling a contract. The only bright spot in the cast is Quincy Isaiah, who continues to impress with his supporting work.
Overlong and concluding with a lazy third-act twist, “The Fix” is a movie that casual viewers can skip unless they are die-hard fans of Neeson and Levi.
Final Grade: D+
“The Fix” opens in theaters today.
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