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American Siege Reviews

There is a version of American Siege that could rival the great hostage films but its forced focus on Bruce Willis in the waning moments of the film largely makes it forgettable and one to skip.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/10 | Jan 5, 2023

The action moves smoothly and quickly with good storytelling to build the right tension between our heroes and villains.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | May 31, 2022

Riddled with bad ideas and dialogue but also peppered with bizarre touches and interesting character moments, this thriller isn't exactly good, but it does rise a little above others of its ilk.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jan 22, 2022

Bruce Willis sleepwalks through another lackluster thriller.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4 | Jan 14, 2022

Bruce Willis completionists know what they're getting at this point, and though this is a tad more 'competent' than average, it's still a bland, calculatedly programmatic piece of work.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/5 | Jan 9, 2022

I have no problems throwing American Siege a few small points for at least having a sense of humor at how embarrassing it is to see Bruce Willis on screen lately, but that doesn't make this movie any less of an embarrassment itself

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Jan 9, 2022

As ever, Willis could double as a piece of expensive lawn furniture, a wooden and immobile showpiece designed to up the curb value but not actually do anything substantial.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/5 | Jan 8, 2022

Mostly it's just Bruce Willis with a gun, doing what he does in these movies.

Full Review | Jan 7, 2022

American Siege is a small step in the right direction for Bruce Willis but he still has a long way to go.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/4 | Jan 7, 2022

Their biggest sin is just taking American Siege so seriously. The movie would have been more fun if everyone had really cut loose and gone wild with their performances, over-the-top cheese.

Full Review | Original Score: 82/100 | Jan 7, 2022

[T]he screenplay seems so involved in the slow revelation and apparent importance of its own invented conspiracy that it forgoes every other element of its story.

Drake doesn't have much to offer the curious, delivering a DOA mystery about a missing woman that offers weirdly little in the way of violent escapism.

Full Review | Original Score: D | Jan 6, 2022

[Willis] puts in a such a wooden performance playing a washed-up, burnt-out cop that I could have screamed in frustration.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jan 6, 2022

Flickering Myth

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Movie Review – American Siege (2021)

March 12, 2022 by Robert Kojder

American Siege , 2021.

Written and Directed by Edward Drake. Starring Timothy V. Murphy, Bruce Willis, Rob Gough, Anna Louise Morse, Johnny Messner, Cullen G. Chambers, Trevor Gretzky, and Janet Jones.

An ex-NYPD officer-turned-sheriff of a small rural Georgia town has to contend with a gang of thieves who have taken a wealthy doctor hostage.

In the early goings, this new collaboration between Edward Drake and Bruce Willis titled American Siege the duo were (responsible for the dreadful Cosmic Sin ) has a character start taking potshots at the latter’s laziness. To be fair, the comments are directed at the small-town Georgian sheriff that Bruce Willis is playing, who seems to be doing anything and everything he can to get out of working that day (he calls his partner Marisa and asks her to take over his responsibilities). It’s as if the characters are now becoming synonymous with just how little of a fuck Bruce Willis gives about acting nowadays. I will also admit I have no problems throwing American Siege a few small points for at least having a sense of humor at how embarrassing it is to see Bruce Willis on screen lately, but that doesn’t make this movie any less of an embarrassment itself.

Like most movies involving Bruce Willis so far this decade, advertising him in a starring role is disingenuous, as here his screen time mostly amounts to standing out in an open field of grass making casual conversation with his partner Kyle Rutledge (Trevor Gretzky) treating a hostage situation with as little urgency as someone packing grocery store bags. The dialogue is so casual and plain; it feels less from Edward Drake’s script (he also collaborated on the story with Corey Large) and more chitchat caught on camera in between actual shooting that just made its way into the movie anyway.

Anyway, the center of the story concerns a trio of hooligans, one of which has just been released from prison and is looking to settle a score with everyone from law enforcement to pharmacists and whoever else might have had something to do with the disappearance of his girlfriend. Accompanying Roy (Rob Gough) on this vengeful quest are the Baker siblings (Toby and Grace, played by Johann Urb and Anna Hindman), also related to the missing woman (Rob Gough). The gist is that while Toby and Grace have always been bad apples, whether it be related to drug addiction or an obsession with guns, their sister was always the innocent one that no one would have suspected to become involved in a suspicious and dangerous situation.

The plan is to storm the remote location of pharmacist John Keats (Cullen G. Chambers, doing a Morgan Freeman impression), convinced he has information on what exactly happened. There is also a secure door inside the building that could potentially lead to some secrets, so long as this unhinged group can find a way to blow it open (not even C4 works). They are also an irritating bunch, with Toby serving as a brainless slab of meat that drops one conspiracy theory after another of what Keats is up to (we’re talking lazy references to Pizzagate, lizard people, and some other deranged talking points that are supposed to be funny but probably only are if you are someone that prioritizes every second of your life to ‘pwning the libs’). For some inexplicable reason, the movie also finds time for a character to out of nowhere and distastefully lambast “gay vegans in Los Angeles” during what is intended to be a serious speech.

Grace fares somewhat better as a hardened woman with attitude and marksmanship, but she also has her grating moments. That’s also a shame because in more capable hands and knowing that some horrifying coverups are going on in the town, these characters could have been compelling as uneducated antihero rednecks. Technically, they are antiheroes, but it’s more of a blessing whenever one of them is killed off rather than something worth caring about.

As the hostage dynamic develops, reinforcements are called in, ranging from the hotheaded police chief Charles Rutledge (Timothy V. Murphy), the feds, drones, some other generic henchmen, and a shady man named Silas, inevitably paving the way for carnage and destruction that is wholly forgettable. It also doesn’t help that once the bullets start flying in every direction, Edward Drake is more concerned with allowing Bruce Willis to be the hero, strolling right up to major villains with all the speed of someone walking through molasses and shooting them in the head. It’s also impossible to give a damn about anything going on given the outrageous narrative turns American Siege takes. The only thing under siege is more of your brain cells watching more straight-to-video Bruce Willis drek.

Flickering Myth Rating  – Film: ★  / Movie: ★ ★

Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check  here  for new reviews, follow my  Twitter  or  Letterboxd , or email me at [email protected]

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Home » Movies

American Siege review – Bruce Willis sleepwalks through more garbage

This review of American Siege is spoiler-free.

I’ve been fortunate over the last few years in that I’ve only had to review a couple of Bruce Willis’s interminable late-career straight-to-VOD releases, a hilarious canon characterized by Willis stealing a paycheck and spending, on average, about ten minutes of screen time sat around doing nothing. The last one I covered was Hard Kill , an egregiously dopey actioner in which Willis played the CEO of a technology company. Here, he’s playing a Georgia Sheriff named Ben Watts, though you’d never know the difference. As ever, Willis could double as a piece of expensive lawn furniture, a wooden and immobile showpiece designed to up the curb value but not actually do anything substantial.

Georgia, in this film, is a cartoon land of hick stereotypes, and the plot hinges on a kind of lawlessness that makes police officers, private militias, regular rednecks, and local business owners basically interchangeable. The entire thing, essentially, is one long stand-off, and while it eventually amounts to a fair amount of bloodshed, it’s hard to consider it a reasonable payoff to a languid 90-minutes of aimless go-nowhere dialogue.

The main idea, plot-wise, is that a decade ago, teenager Brigit Baker (Sarah May Sommers) went missing, and now her boyfriend Roy (Rob Gough), along with her gun-toting sister Grace (Anna Hindman) and her Bible-bashing cousin Toby (Johann Urb), want to know where she went. They think that a pharmacist (Cullen G Chambers) has the answers, so they raid his home looking for them, and a painfully lengthy stand-off ensues.

Director Edward Drake wrote the screenplay for American Siege , while Corey Large gets a story credit, and it’s obvious that both found it much more interesting on paper than it ends up being on film. There’s a twist of sorts, but it’s hardly enough to justify the build-up, and when Willis eventually starts putting bullets in heads, it’s like he has woken up from a lucid dream and decided to get all this over with as quickly as he possibly can. It’s quick, but not quite quick enough to spare us the suffering, though do look out for Timothy V Murphy doing a halfway decent villain turn deserving of a better movie.

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Is American Siege Based on a True Story?

Although no ‘ Die Hard ,’ small-town action thriller ‘American Siege’ packs a good deal of wall-to-wall action. And when coupled with the stoic face of Bruce Willis , it becomes a movie you can hardly resist. Helmed by Edward Drake, the story follows an ex-convict searching for truth. Ten years after the mysterious disappearance of Brigit Baker, her boyfriend Roy comes out of the prison to exact his wrath on the sleepy township of Fitzgerlad, Georgia. Teaming up with outlaws Grace and cousin Toby, Roy storms the house of a shady pharmacist.

On another side of the town, Mayor Charles Rutledge pressures drunk and corrupt sheriff Ben Watts to initiate a widespread crackdown. However, sensing the situation getting out of hand, Sheriff Watts must rise to the occasion and uncover all the truths. The movie features lengthy action sequences, appalling characters, and a neat twist to cater to fans. However, you may wonder how much the story lies on realistic grounds. If the question is ruining your night’s sleep, let us embark upon an investigation.

Is American Siege a True Story?

No, ‘American Siege’ is not based on a true story. However, the small-town ambiance comes off as refreshing as a backdrop of an action thriller. As the features in the genre often unfold in city backdrops, the setting is a welcome change. Aussie screenwriter-director Edward Drake created the movie from an original screenplay. The script was based on a story written by Drake and actor-screenwriter Corey Large, a regular collaborator of Drake.

After his favorite director Steven Soderbergh , Edward Drake strives to make low-budget movies with the primary aim to entertain the audiences. He is also known to regularly collaborate with Bruce Willis and make movies on a spec. For instance, ‘American Siege’ production took eight days to complete, with Bruce Willis present in the set for a day. Drake, who calls Willis a legend, collaborated with the veteran star in his past projects’ Breach,’ ‘ Cosmic Sin ,’ and ‘Apex.’ However, while these films are set in space, ‘American Siege’ exchanges the epic ambiance for a more grounded small-town setting.

Fitzgerald is indeed a city in the south-central part of Georgia, in Ben Hill County. Moreover, the sparsely populated city is notorious for corruption, which may have inspired the story to an extent. The crime rate is also relatively high in Fitzgerald, with a crime occurring once every 15 hours 10 minutes. The city made news in 2020 when the Georgia Bureau of Investigation arrested 54-year-old former Fitzgerald Police Captain Allen E. Pope for alleged sexual misconduct on children .

‘American Siege’ is a special film in his oeuvre in the director’s own words. Some inspiration for the movie perhaps came from Shane Black (‘The Nice Guys’), whom the director considers one of his heroes. Black excels in grounded and realistic character sketches; something Drake attempts to replicate in his films. Drake does not believe in action without consequences, devoid of causality and realism. However, his method is pretty straightforward – conjure realistic characters and make them run after a singular truth. As a final verdict, the movie earns its realism from the dynamic of its characters, while the theme of revenge resonates universally.

Read More: Where Was American Siege Filmed?

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American Siege

By Alan Ng | May 30, 2022

NEW TO HULU! Good thrillers keep you off your feet and on your toes. Edward Drake’s  American Siege  placed Bruce Willis right on the shifting sands of small-town politics and corruption while keeping us guessing about who’s good and who’s bad.

Our tale opens with a trio of gun-wielding people doing it home-invasion-style against the local physician, Dr. Keats (Cullen G. Chambers). The assailants are tough guys Toby (Johann Urb), Grace (Anna Hindman), and Roy (Rob Gough), but it’s not money they’re looking for but the whereabouts of Grace’s sister, Brigit. It appears that Dr. Keats got her involved in some questionable activities. Still, they don’t know it involves the dangerous Charles Rutledge (Timothy V. Murphy), who has the town’s sheriff, Ben Watts (Bruce Willis), in his pocket, as well as his son, officer Kyle (Trevor Gretzky), by his side.

Let’s be honest about indie action movies. They are expensive. Safety and insurance alone will break any production. So, you’ve got to get the biggest bang for your buck. Director Edward Drake and co-writer Corey Large give us a brief action tease with the invasion upfront and then puts all the pawns in place for the big confrontation at the end.

In the opening scene of  American Siege , Toby, Grace, and Roy are brutal. Grace goes in first and promptly kills a few security officers. They are desperate and crazy. They torture Dr. Keats to give up what he knows about Brigit in hopes that their actions will flush out the guy in charge, Rutledge.

“They torture Dr. Keats…in hopes that their actions will flush out the guy in charge …”

On the other hand, Rutledge has to move fast as the FBI are on their way to Dr. Keats’ residence to investigate the hostage situation. Rutledge first sends in Sheriff Watts, who begins to suspect Rutledge of something much more sinister than he ever thought possible. As Rutledge gets desperate, he and his goons lay siege on Keats’ home.

While the major studios have the corner on big action movies,  American Siege  does a lot for what it has to work with. Most of the action is gunplay and hand-to-hand fighting. I like that it is bloody and brutal. The action moves smoothly and quickly with good storytelling to build the right tension between our heroes and villains. But in the end, a bigger budget would have made things feel… well, much bigger than it currently stands.

Regarding the story between the action, there is a mystery at play. Though, as an audience member, I like to take part in solving the clues laid before us, here, the reveal is peeled back slowly and mostly through exposition. As our heroes extract the truth about Brigit, pressure mounts as Rutledge presses in.

We have to talk about Bruce Willis. We now know the reason he’s been appearing in a lot of indie action, and  American Siege  makes good use of him. His role is meaty, and he’s integral to the storyline. He makes his presence felt, and that’s exactly what we want from a big star in an indie film.

As an indie thriller,  American Siege  does what it needs to accomplish in building tension. The filmmakers bring us into a town where everyone is compromised one way or the other, which causes the town to implode.

American Siege  is now available on Hulu.

American Siege (2022)

Directed: Edward Drake

Written: Edward Drake, Corey Large

Starring: Bruce Willis, Rob Gough, Anna Hindman, Trevor Gretzky, Cullen G. Chambers, Timothy V. Murphy, etc.

Movie score: 7/10

"…good storytelling to build the right tension between our heroes and villains."

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Parent reviews of, american siege.

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Excellent family action film.

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American Siege

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• Anna Hindman
• Trevor Gretzky
• Cullen G. Chambers

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• when Willis eventually starts putting bullets in heads, it’s like he has woken up from a lucid dream and decided to get all this over with as quickly as he possibly can  Jonathon Wilson : Ready Steady Cut
• "Riddled with bad ideas and dialogue but also peppered with bizarre touches and interesting character moments, this thriller isn't exactly good, but it does rise a little above others of its ilk"  Jeffrey M. Anderson : Common Sense Media
• "This small-town crime movie has a dash of imagination in its plot but Willis’s flagrant inertia makes it one for the diehards (...) Rating: ★★ (out of 5)"  Cath Clarke : The Guardian

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American Siege

Cast: Timothy V. Murphy, Bruce Willis, Rob Gough

Release Date: Fri, Jan 7, 2022

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American Siege

• An ex-NYPD officer-turned-sheriff of a small rural Georgia town has to contend with a gang of thieves who have taken a wealthy doctor hostage.

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