Robert Lorenz is a director who has had a long association with Clint Eastwood.

I guess Eastwood was too old for The Marksman so Liam Neeson steps in.

Neeson plays Jim Hanson, a retired Marine marksman with money troubles. He spent his savings on his wife's medical bills who has since died of cancer. His ranch is at risk of foreclosing.

Jim comes across a couple of migrants crossing the border from Mexico. Rosa, a young mother dies. She asks Jim to her son Miguel to some relatives in Chicago.

On their tail are some Mexican gangsters, Miguel's father stole money from them and that seems a good motivation for Jim.

This is a slower paced action film. Melancholic in tone. Jim is gruff and at first reluctant to help Rosa and Miguel. Eventually Jim and Miguel strike up a rapport as the bad guys seem to be right behind them.

For a movie called the Marksman there is not much shooting from Jim. In that sense it misses the mark.

Another day, another routine thriller from Liam Neeson, falling into about the middle in terms of quality. The plot and set-up are decent enough and there are certainly some suspenseful scenes in the first third, but then it becomes a slow-paced road trip with very little in the way of action or suspense to see it through. Neeson essentially plays his usual grizzled character and the rest of the cast do their best with poorly-crafted characters, VIKINGS actress Winnick among them. It only then picks up right at the end for a traditional western-style climax. Not a bad time-waster, but nothing more.

Jim Hanson (Liam Neeson) has a shrinking property on the American Mexican border. The bank is foreclosing on what's left of his property including the hill where he spread his late wife's ashes. Her medical treatments had drained their life savings. He often finds illegals crossing his property. One day, he comes across Rosa and her son Miguel. They're on the run from the Mexican cartel. Jim gets into a gun battle and kills one of the cartel gunmen. Rosa is killed. Eventually, Jim is on the run with Miguel. Jim's stepdaughter Sarah Pennington (Katheryn Winnick) is a border agent.

This needs a few script changes including several situations during the final confrontation. There are some bad old fashion holdouts with the ending. Jim would never lay down his gun. As soon as that happens, both him and the kid would be killed. The biggest change I would make is to get rid of the money. It muddies Jim's motivation in helping Miguel. It would also heighten the danger by taking away a resource. In addition, Jim should have used the money to buy a car. The bad guys know the car and he knows the bad guys know it after the corrupt cop. It's also shot up to heck and on its last legs. Another change is Miguel's declaration that he wants to go home. Here's the deal. The kid is written as a real smart character. He wouldn't be dumb enough to want to go home where he can expect certain death. Overall, I like this lone marine who wants to do the right thing and Liam Neeson playing it. The script for this simplistic story has a few flaws that needs cleaning up.