Ronin (1998)

Ronin is a 1998 action-thriller film directed by John Frankenheimer and written by J.D. Zeik and David Mamet. It stars Robert De Niro and Jean Reno as two of several former special forces and intelligence agents who team up to steal a mysterious, heavily guarded suitcase while navigating a maze of shifting loyalties and alliances. The film is noted for its car chases through Nice and Paris.

In a warehouse on the outskirts of Paris, Deirdre (Natascha McElhone), a young Irish woman who is a member of the Provisional IRA army council, meets with former special forces soldiers and intelligence operatives—Spence (Sean Bean), Larry (Skipp Sudduth), Gregor (Stellan Skarsgård), Vincent (Jean Reno), and Sam (Robert De Niro). Deirdre briefs the men on their mission, attacking a heavily armed convoy and stealing a briefcase, its contents unknown. Following the briefing, the team begins assembling their equipment, and Deirdre meets with her handler, Seamus O'Rourke (Jonathan Pryce), who reveals that Russian gangsters are bidding for the case so the team must act quickly to intercept it. Later, Spence is exposed as a fraud and summarily released from the team. The others depart for Nice where, over several days, they observe the convoy and form an ambush plan. The team ambushes the convoy and pursues the survivors through the surrounding countryside. After a lengthy car chase and gun battle, Gregor steals the case, tries to kill the team, and disappears. Gregor first tries to sell the case to the Russians, but his contact betrays him, and Gregor shoots him. He next contacts Mikhi (Féodor Atkine), the leader of the gangsters, and threatens to sell the case to the IRA unless Mikhi pays a grossly inflated price for the case; Mikhi agrees. Meanwhile, the rest of the team track Gregor through one of Sam's old CIA contacts and corner him in the Roman arena in Arles. Following a tense standoff and hectic firefight, Gregor flees Sam and Vincent but is captured by Seamus, who kills Larry and escapes with Deirdre just as Sam and Vincent emerge from the coliseum. Sam, wounded from the fight, is taken by Vincent to his friend Jean-Pierre (Michael Lonsdale) in a villa in rural France. After removing the bullet and allowing Sam time to recuperate, Vincent asks Jean-Pierre to help him locate Gregor, Deirdre, and Seamus. Meanwhile, in Seamus' hideout, Gregor admits he mailed the case to himself. Days later, as they retrieve the case, they are ambushed by Vincent and Sam. Sam confronts Deirdre, who is waiting for Seamus and Gregor outside the post office. Realizing that Sam has feelings for her and will not shoot her, she speeds off. Following a high-speed chase through the streets and tunnels of Paris, Vincent shoots out Dierdre's tires and sends her car over a highway overpass. Gregor emerges from the car with the briefcase and once again escapes, while Deirdre and Seamus are rescued from the burning car by construction workers. Vincent and Sam, pondering their options, discover that the case is a type used by figure skaters. Intelligence gleaned from Jean-Pierre's contacts also suggest the Russians are involved with figure skater Natacha Kirilova (Katarina Witt), Mikhi's protégé, who is appearing in a show at the local arena. Vincent and Sam appear at the arena as Mikhi, in the audience watching Natacha, receives a call and reluctantly goes backstage. At the meet, Mikhi exchanges money for the case when Gregor, preparing to leave, reveals there is a sniper somewhere in the arena who will shoot Natacha if Mikhi betrays him. Mikhi shoots Gregor anyway, the sniper shoots Natacha, and Mikhi leaves with the case and the money. Meanwhile, Vincent and Sam follow the panicked crowd out of the arena in time to see Seamus ambush and shoot Mikhi before stealing the case. Sam runs ahead of Seamus and finds Deirdre sitting in the getaway car. He urges her to leave, revealing himself as a CIA agent pursuing Seamus, not the briefcase. Seamus shoots his way past the crowd, wounding Vincent, back to the arena, with Sam in pursuit. In the final gunfight, Seamus wounds Sam and is about to kill him when Vincent fatally shoots him from the scaffolding and collapses. Days later, in a Parisian cafe, Sam and Vincent talk over radio broadcasts revealing a peace agreement reached between Sinn Féin and the British, partly as a result of Seamus's death. They part as friends, and Sam drives off with his CIA contact. Vincent pays the bill and leaves, disappearing into gloomy Paris. The contents of the case are never revealed. The possibility that Sam remained in the employ of the CIA and his 'Ronin' status was a cover, affects several aspects of the movie. Sam's statement that "I didn't come for the case, I came for your boss" supports the idea he has a higher motive - eliminating an IRA operative to secure peace in Northern Ireland. It could also be that Spence and Vincent are real operatives for the British and French secret services as well, Spence being revealed as a fake in order for Sam to ingratiate himself into the IRA led team. Sam and Vincent's friendship seems too warm from the start for a first meeting, and the final scene in the diner when Sam says "I'll get this, you can get it next time" can be interpreted several ways. [edit] Alternate ending In the commercial version of the film, Deirdre is last seen leaving the arena, her future uncertain. In an alternative ending on the DVD, she is seen on the stairs next to the café, apparently considering joining Sam and Vincent, but she does not and walks up the stairs. As she gets into her car, she is snatched into a van by men in the IRA who call her a traitor. Sam and Vincent finish their conversation and depart, unaware of what has just happened to Deirdre.