In my review of Hounds of War (2024), I had a bit of fun at Frank Grillo’s expense and how he appears in a new film every week. That ‘joke’ was further compounded when he had both Hounds of War and Long Gone Heroes released on the same day.
As somebody who enjoys watching action films, Long Gone Heroes is in fact a much better film that should have been my primary focus throughout, especially due to its association with action legend Grillo, while Hounds of War only got my attention since it was directed by the well known Isaac Florentine.
Starring Frank Grillo as one of the five times he’s worked with writer/director John Swab, Long Gone Heroes has everything a Grillo fan would enjoy including intense action sequences in which stoic heroes fight despicable villains. However, the biggest question here is whether the Venezuelan backdrops were convincing enough and if the accents were believable, come to think of it, such small details won’t be critical flaws in the film’s marvellous plot. Besides, no one raises an eyebrow when Scots are portrayed wrongly and in much worse situations, and while this is an issue that can annoy me, I’ll just say the film had so many other redeeming qualities that you wouldn’t care. Long Gone Heroes more than rectifies these small production issues.
Grillo is in fine form (sorry it’s too much) as the ex-Special Forces–Gunner. Having left his profession and country, Gunner is forced back to the field after his niece (Eden Brolin) gets kidnapped in Venezuela. His niece, a young reporter, goes to Venezuela as part of a rebellion against her mother ove (Melissa Leo) who happens to be a Governor in the United States. Perhaps her kidnapping was motivated by something connected to her unique mother’s illegal business deals with an outlaw Roman (Andy Garcia) who is the drugs lord.
Olivia capitalizes on Gunner’s emotions and manipulates him into going for a rescue operation in Venezuela. Gunner uses Guapo (Juan Pablo Raba), a mercenary from his past, to form a team with Matty (George Carroll), West (Beau Knapp), and David (Josh Hutcherson) and enters the treacherous land which seems violent. However, it doesn’t take long for this small unit to get into the center of the action, the end of which seems unclear.
In a couple of his movies, John Swab’s directing style reminds me of the 70’s. Most fittingly, I like to refer to it as “the no bullshit approach”. The action is presented in a straightforward manner that lacks any need for flashy visual additions that hopefully only distract from the actual action on screen more than add to it. The focus even the some of the more intense, dramatic, and dialogue-heavy moments in the film are not in the dramatics as much as the overall focus is much less dramatic. And much like Walter Hill, the focus of the stories are the characters but only a few of their more basic features are typical for them. Other than Grillo’s Gunner, we don’t know much about hans’ team and their backgrounds. We get to know more about them during the battles through a few crucial dialogue threads, which that depict them as very broken people. However when the situation demands it, these people are very good people with a strong moral sense. Even though they are stomach-churning rough people, there are things that are worth risking their lives for.
This perfectly demonstrates the unusual band of heroes assembled in the movie. Clearly, Grillo is at his best once again portraying the group’s leader, tough and yet tortured–Gunner, a man who seems emotionally worn out. On his quest of saving his niece, he is almost able to reconnect with his sense of compassion, all the while laying waste to what can be described as a small battalion. In my review of Hounds of War, I mentioned that Grillo seemed to be absent in the latter half of the movie, but in this case I cannot share such concerns. He gets to take part in a few very interesting gun fights, and also one very interesting fight against Mekhi Phifer towards the latter part of the film, right before the climax sequence begins.
Beau Knapp is in fact one of the more undervalued actors in the movie and his performance as West, the more soft spoken member of the bunch is quite impactful. Much like Gunner, West also looks to be really tired and disappointed with the fact that it’s his friends’ faith that keeps him in the field. It was clear the disparity of thoughts and beliefs for Knapp as he very clearly manages to let loose his emotions with minimal dialogue and lets the story unfold and defines his character with great subtlety.
I’ve always been taken by Knapp not least because of his performance in The Signal (2014) and I have always felt that he is on the precipice of a great breakthrough. His work in supporting casts in films like Southpaw (2015), The Finest Hours (2016), and Sand Castle (2017) illustrates his range even if his roles were rather brief. This time though, he is in the entire movie.
Knapp is certainly used better in this film than he was in the recently released Road House (2024) which as a fan, I thought was unpertinent. Long Gone Heroes is the second movie in which Knapp and Swab have worked together after the crime thriller Ida Red (2021) where, as in Long Gone Heroes, he co-starred with Frank Grillo and Melissa Leo.
Another regular Swab actor, Slaine whose real name is George Carroll, plays one of Gunner’s team mates and provides a strong performance. Even more than Grillo it would seem that Carroll has a bit of luck for John Swab because he acted in even more of Swab’s films. He may look a little different from his teammates but his impressive personality and heart add so much depth to the character he plays.
Also, Juan Pablo Raba plays the role of the Guapo Mercenary who appears as heartless at first glance but later becomes trustworthy on the battlefield. It was nice to see Raba return in such great form after taking on supporting roles in films like The Marksman (2021) and Freelance (2023). This time, he manages to add more dimension to the character than any of these two previous performances would have allowed.
Next is Josh Hutcherson, probably the most familiar face on the cast. After getting stuck playing a slimy villain in The Beekeeper (2024), he is now working on the “good” side as a tech specialist called David. He is out of his depth but not for long–soon he is thrown into the thick of danger. Hutcherson is just right in the role of an agitated and nervous tech whiz and really brings the character of David to life as he is struggling to comprehend what is happening to him.
In this case, Eden Brolin is the only main female character apart from Melissa Leo. Although she does seem to wish to act properly, her actions seem to come off as a bit obnoxious especially when the dialogue is centered around her and David, played by Hutcherson. With an eye roll, she insults him and refers to him as an idiot, clearly forgetting that he almost died trying to save her. Luckily for the audience, she does change her ways particularly when she starts to understand the people surrounding her and the efforts they are going through to bring her to safety.
Even with her short presence, primarily in the introductory scenes, her character, Melissa Leo does at least give a sense of weight to the movie. In the movie, she plays a United States Governor character that is involved in some very dodgy doing’s. While I would not call myself an expert when it comes to politics or try to claim that the debates held in film tend to mirror the real world, this however makes things more interesting and thus makes Long Gone Heroes a step ahead of just another action movie.
Famous star Andy Garcia is also credited with the film, but his appearance is kept to a minimum; he is said to have a short role, with the bulk of the antagonist being played by henchman Mekhi Phifer. Both present themselves as nasty fellows and can easily rank among the most twisted characters either actor has played any time ever.
It is clear Swab did not want blast away bullets like a machine in a shootout. This is even much more obvious in the first half of this movie where he tries to develop the characters and key plot components. The engaging action sequence actually only starts slightly less than an hour into the movie, but up until that time, Swab builds the suspense quite a bit. The when the action does occur, it is at a nearly constant level. There is, of course, some digital blood and gunfire effects, but it is rather minimal and quite normal for today’s movies.
What pulls Long Gone Heroes from the rest is also one of the elements of cinema which is the breathtaking output of camera man Brandon Cox. The scenes in the jungle are wonderfully done, with Cox’s photography at nighttime being especially impressive. In all honesty, I had thought that someone such as Cox, who has worked with Steven Miller, would have already transcended the DTV/VOD level. I have no real problem with DTV since several of my favorite films are in this category, but it is hard to see why Cox is not working with bigger productions when his work is great.
Long Gone Heroes was a pleasant surprise for me. Even minor imperfections cannot spoil what is a very enjoyable action thriller where more than just explosions and gunfight are in focus.
John Swab is quite busy too with a new movie King Ivory in the making which is once again a crime thriller about Fentanyl trafficking. Unfortunately it seems that Grillo is not on board for this one, but I am sure that he has nothing to worry about because he has many of his other films already finished or soon to be finished.
Long Gone Heroes can be watched on VOD and should not be ignored. It is one of Grillo’s films that requires more recognition.
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