Critics Adore The 2023 Pierce Brosnan Motion Thriller That is Taking Over Netflix

Netflix is residence to extra than simply relentless subscription value hikes. Generally it is missed Pierce Brosnan motion thrillers, too. 2023’s “Quick Charlie” noticed the previous James Bond star painting a mob operative on the verge of retirement and went principally missed upon its preliminary launch. Not solely did the movie garner spectacular opinions, nevertheless it’s additionally now climbing the Netflix charts, suggesting that is one veteran mobster it is best to take note of.

The movie is directed by Australian filmmaker Phillip Noyce, whose expansive credit embrace the Val Kilmer-led “The Saint” and Angelina Jolie’s 2010 motion thriller “Salt.” “Quick Charlie” sees him crew up with one more display legend, Brosnan, who’s been on one thing of a tear prior to now few years. Brosnan’s star-studded 2025 homicide thriller was a Netflix gem whereas his brilliantly over-the-top efficiency as Irish mob boss Conrad Harrigan in the right “Yellowstone” substitute “Mobland” is definitely one in every of his most memorable — and that is saying one thing.

“Quick Charlie” was one more win for Brosnan, no less than by way of the essential response. The movie had a really restricted theatrical run alongside its video-on-demand launch again in December 2023 however, predictably given the shortage of promotion, did not make a lot of an impression. That’s, it did not have a lot impression on audiences. Critics, nonetheless, have been very impressed by Brosnan’s acquainted but enjoyable motion thriller, which has since climbed the Netflix charts.

You’ll be able to’t go flawed with a movie that begins with Pierce Brosnan stripping off, and that is precisely what occurs in “Quick Charlie.” We first meet Charlie Swift as he is taking off his garments in a junkyard and lamenting that he had foreseen his present circumstances lengthy earlier than they got here to be. Simply what sort of bother Brosnan’s fixer is in stays unclear all through this opening scene, however we rapidly flash again to the previous to see how Swift wound up in his underwear.

It appears the retired Marine Officer and mob murderer fulfilled his contract to kill a person, however for the reason that sufferer was lacking his head, Swift was going to have a tough time convincing his consumer that he’d whacked the best mark. That consumer occurs to be ruthless New Orleans mob boss Beggar Mercado (Gbenga Akinnagbe), and to persuade him he killed the best man, Charlie wants the assistance of his sufferer’s ex-wife, Marcie Kramer (Morena Baccarin). When Charlie and his fellow killer Blade (Brennan Keal Prepare dinner) take the physique to Marcie, nonetheless, issues rapidly go awry, kicking off a wild odyssey that sees Charlie and Marcie attempt to take down Beggar whereas making an attempt to protect the legacy of Charlie’s mentor, Stan Mullen (James Caan).

Including a little bit of a tragic be aware to an in any other case delightfully off-the-wall crime thriller journey, Stan Mullen was Caan’s last efficiency earlier than his dying in July 2022. The actor handed away earlier than the movie might debut, however whereas “Quick Charlie” may not be one in every of Caan’s biggest movies, he managed to ship what Glenn Kenny of RogerEbert.com described as a “poignant and charming” efficiency — and he wasn’t the one benefit of the movie.

“Quick Charlie” wasn’t precisely a phenomenon, nevertheless it impressed most critics. An 83% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes speaks to the movie’s standing as a high quality motion thriller — or on the very least a equally enjoyable weekend watch to Maggie Q’s motion thriller “Protégé — that delivers on its promise of an unpredictable thrill experience by means of the legal underworld.

Very similar to with “Mobland,” Pierce Brosnan has a beautiful time within the lead, with Richard Roeper commending his “wry humorousness” for propelling “this slick and violent piece of pulp leisure.” Equally, The Hollywood Reporter‘s Frank Scheck thought Brosnan’s “ageless allure” helped set him aside from the multitude of “cinematic getting older hitmen trying to retire to a extra peaceable life.” Certainly, “Quick Charlie” does not attempt to reinvent the motion thriller and is a reasonably formulaic story in its “badass on the verge of retirement will get pulled into one final job” framework. However Brosnan’s efficiency and his chemistry with co-star Morena Baccarin make the film really feel like greater than a drained retread of style clichés.

So too does Phillip Noyce’s embrace of the clichés. David Ehrlich of IndieWire definitely thought so, writing that what made the film “charming as a substitute of trite” was that “Noyce’s movie treats its ultra-familiar tropes as extra of a function than a bug.” Maybe that is why (per FlixPatrol) the film has blasted its approach up the Netflix charts like an getting older mob hitman with one thing to show. 

“Quick Charlie” debuted at quantity six on america film charts on June 5, 2026, and has since climbed to quantity two. If you wish to assist Brosnan’s fixer attain the highest spot, the film is obtainable to stream proper now.