The Bricklayer

 February 16, 2026

Better Than What They Say

Dear Viewers,

Action, suspense, betrayal, all make a fantastic movie. Well look no further as The Bricklayer directed by Renny Harlin incorporates all of these elements and more. Starring actors Aaron Eckhart and Nina Dobrev as two elite level CIA agents hunting a former rogue agent in a manhunt across Europe. From unexpected twists to nail biting scenes, this movie kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. I genuinely enjoyed this movie and would give it a solid 4 out of 5 stars.

This movie has a great plot and backstory, featuring a sort of intensity and realism that keeps you guessing from opening to closing credits. After a trail of influential journalist murders, Europe is outraged due to all these journalists having something in common, evidence that the CIA is carrying out unethical operations in Europe. The CIA is on thin ice and needs someone to prove to people that it’s not the CIA. The CIA turns to Steve Vail, a retired CIA operative, who is currently working as a bricklayer. You may be asking yourself why the CIA would need back one of its former agents to work for them; that is because the agency thinks the murders are tied to a former agent, and that agent happened to be lifelong best friends with Vail, prior to him going rogue. Moreover, Vail has many years of experience under his belt and is used to dealing with similar situations that require quick decisionmaking that can be the difference between life or death. Though Vail is initially reluctant to join back, due to his dislike towards the “life of a spy” and preference to a calm quiet civilian life he eventually caves and agrees to join the agency for one last mission. Once Vail and his appointed partner Kate Bannon land in Greece, Vail goes right to work gathering information on who Victor Radek (the rogue agent and suspected killer) is planning to take down next and when he is going to do it. He uses former contacts from his CIA days, Tye (Chief of CIA station in Greece) and Sten (a former CIA informant) who both lead him in the right direction. Little do Vail and Bannon know both Tye and Sten are close colleagues with Radek and are exposing their operation. Though he is hot on his trail and has many close encounters with Radek and his associates, he eventually beats Radek to his next victim and kills Radek right before Radek attempts the assassionation of the leader of Greece. Though the target is eliminated Vail is confused on one thing, how Radek was able to operate so long without detection. Vail puts the pieces together and figures out it’s an inside job, it was Tye. Knowing with Radek dead and that Tye was most likely taking a piece of the ransom money he sets up a smart trap to catch, expose and kill Tye. Tye unwillingly exposes her whole operation by attempting to flee but is unable to and is eliminated by Vail. 

This movie showed the themes of both betrayal and perseverance. Betrayal being the main plot of the movie, as the main character Vail had been betrayed not once or twice, but three times. As shown in this quote Vail had been tricked even by his most trustworthy friends “Tye was the real culprit who had been helping Radek leak the agency’s activities and stole the ransom money”(Near the end of the movie). Vail seemed broken by the end of the movie likely due to him having to kill two of his lifelong best friends. Though, it seemed that he knew it was the right thing to do, he still showed some regret and frustration having to carry out the murders. Also, perseverance was depicted, because even when Vail was not able to find Radek many times and being led into several traps, he still worked to finish the job and get to the source of the murders. Another character that showed perseverance was Bannon. Bannon, who originally was working a desk job at the CIA had to work extremely hard to move up the ladder at the CIA, from a desk job all the way up to the field agent level. She dealt with many people telling her she would never make it or that she was stuck where she was, but didn’t listen and still made it to the top ranked CIA offical. Betrayal and perseverance are two very common movie themes, but I think that Harlin did a great job showing them in new and interesting ways. 

Eckhart and Dobrev truly took this movie to the next level, from the incredible stunts and the amazing adrenaline and intensity the actors brought into each scene. Eckhart has always done a great job acting in gritty spy thriller movies like the Has Fallen Series, and Chief of Station, with this movie being no different. As I thought that his job as Vail was a perfect fit for his style of acting. On the other hand Dobrev brought incredible charisma and confidence into each scene as she’s done before in movies and shows like Vampire Diaries and Love Hard. Though some critics say that Eckhart and Dobrev had an underwhelming performance I thought that they both did a fantastic job in their respective roles.

I rave this movie. I was underwhelmed while looking at all the reactions to the movie from online reviews and ratings, but still decided to watch it when my dad said he really enjoyed the movie. As the movie began I was already hooked and enjoyed the movie from start to finish. I strongly recommend you watch this movie in one sitting and hope you enjoy it as much as I did. 

Sincerely,

Xander.