A Day to Die – By the Books
Director: Wes Miller
Writer: Rab Berry, Scott Mallace (Screenplay)
Starring: Kevin Dillon, Bruce Willis, Gianna Capaldi, Brooke Butler, Johnny Messner, Curtis Nichouls. Frank Grillo, Leon
Plot: Connor Connolly has one day to pay reparations to Tyrone Pettis. He is forced to ask his old military ops crew. Led by Brice Mason, come together to get two million dollars before he loses everyone he loves in the process.
Runtime: 1 Hour 45 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: A Day to Die starts with a hostage situation going horribly wrong. Conner (Dillon) is injured, with the rest of the team injured or killed. 18-months-later Conner isn’t the same man becoming a parole officer, killing one of Tyrone Pettis (Leon) men.
Conner turns to his former Police Chief Alston (Willis) for help. Unaware of Tyrone’s connection with him, they have their own plan to clean up the city. Conner is given one offer, male two-million dollars in 12 hours, or Tyrone will kill his wife. Conner turns to his brother Tim (Capaldi) and former captain Mason (Grillo) to put a team together for the operation. A team living with the consequences of the hostage situation went wrong.
Thoughts on A Day to Die
Characters & Performances
Conner is one of the police team injured during the hostage situation. In the aftermath, he has become a parole officer, trying to help cons get back on their feet. Life hasn’t been as smooth as it once was for him. Not getting better after clashing with a ruthless gangster. he is forced into bringing the squad back together for a difficult mission to steal $2 million.
Tyrone Pettis is a ruthless gangster, having the people on the streets resecting him. The police chief is in his pocket and the city is in fear. He targets Conner after an altercation, forcing him to complete a job for him. His approach is very calm in public, he knows he can hurt people. He doesn’t want to get his own hands dirty when it comes to dealing with problems.
Police Chief Alston order the hostage situation, sending the men into the slaughter. He has been keeping Tyrone in line, as long as his money continues to come in.
Elsewhere, we have the team that helps Conner, his former team and his brother. They have a score to settle after the incident. We also have the guys working for Tyrone, looking slick, as he expects them to. Going around the city and getting the work done.
The performances in the film are interesting. Kevin Dillon in the leading role works well, being the broken man. Leon is the standout, being the super slick and cool gangster around town. Bruce Willis keeps his appearance to the typical minimum for what is needed.
Story
The story follows a former SWAT member dealing with the consequences of a hostage situation gone bad. That is forced into completing a daring robbery for a local gangster to pay off a debt. Learning of a bigger conspiracy going on within the force.
The story is one that looks to deliver twists along the way. One that is looking to expose the different sides of everything going on within a city. Exposing police corruption and how a gangster must operate to stay on top. The story could have put a lot more focus on lives after the incident, instead of just jumping to this incident. It also ends up seeing people working together, when it wouldn’t make sense.
Themes
A Day to Die is an action crime thriller that focuses on a big robbery. The action gives us plenty of shootouts that see the bodies fly around. The criminal world doesn’t make complete sense, with how everything unfolds. The blood pellets are clear to see with each shot which doesn’t help make the scenes stand out in any way.
Final Thoughts – A Day to Die is a by-the-books action movie, above the normal straight-to DVD level.
