Liam Neeson's New CIA Thriller Is 'Heat Meets The Wild Bunch' (Exclusive)

EXCLUSIVE: Liam Neeson's new thriller The Fix has gotten an intriguing description from its director.

The Fix is a recently released action thriller starring Oscar nominee Neeson alongside co-stars Zachary Levi, Quincy Isaiah, Wes Chatham, and Jake Choi. The political thriller centers around a group of former CIA operators who go to Tehran after feeling disillusioned by the war in Afghanistan. The movie is directed by Guy Moshe, who also serves as a writer and producer on the film. The Fix was released in theaters on September 11, and showtimes are currently available.

In an interview with ScreenRant's Liam Crowley for The Fix, Moshe expounds upon his work on the film, and gives it some intriguing comparison points. Crowley pointed out that Moshe's career had been primarily in screenwriting, asking him why he wanted to direct the film. With The Fix, Moshe "wanted to make something much closer to The Wild Bunch or Michael Mann's Heat or something like that." This was "the tone that [Moshe] had in mind" with the film, as he elaborates below:

ScreenRant: You've written significantly more than you've directed. What made you not only want to pick up the pen for The Fix, but also get behind the camera as well?

Guy Moshe: This film to me, even though it's an entertainment piece, there's a lot of personal stuff rolled inside this movie for me. When I was a younger man, it sounds very popular these days, but I was born and raised in Israel. And as a younger man, I served in a special forces branch of the Israeli military. And throughout my career, I kind of stayed away from this. I didn't write anything about it, didn't engage with this too much. And then the hook for the film was introduced to me by a producer I worked with on another film. I really love that idea of money buried in a wall in Tehran since '79 and no one going to get it. Supposedly an urban legend that was brought to us by an ex - CIA operative himself. It was just an opportunity to take something that is inherently entertaining, but maybe bring into it a lot of personal experiences, a lot of things that I had to say about men going to war and more of a philosophical perspective into service and into what it means to be one of those guys while still on a roller coaster type of experience.

The screenplay, it's literally just that idea. There was a previous attempt at this that was much more of like a caper, if you will. And that was brought to me. And I said, this is just not my sensibility. I felt like this should be in Ocean's 11. I wanted to make something much closer to The Wild Bunch or Michael Mann's Heat or something like that. That was the tone that I had in my mind when you think about your canvas, and you're trying to think about the painting you want to color it. The idea itself is about 1979: the embassy was taken over and apparently there was a lot of cash money in the embassy, and CIA operatives that were there at the time didn't know what to do with that money and took it out of the embassy, snuck out and buried it in the wall of a hotel. The myth goes that nobody's ever gone back to take that money. And that's to me was a great hook for film.

Moshe also noted how this project evolved from its original iteration. According to the director, "there was a previous attempt" of The Fix that did not feel tonally correct to him. This version was "brought to" him rather than coming from his own screenwriting. This version's tone felt "more of like a caper," which Moshe compared to Ocean's Eleven. This perceived dissonance is how Moshe knew he needed to make a change, suggesting this partially drove him to write and direct.

Moshe's stated influences help identify this intended tone. Heat is a cop drama that is quintissentially '90s. While it is a gritty action movie in some ways, it also has a moody feel to it that in some ways dates the film. Nonetheless, the Michael Mann flick is highly beloved and thus a high bar for Moshe to live up to.

The Wild Bunch may also be in the broad action genres, but in some ways it could not be more different. Released in 1969, this film is a period drama Western epic which takes in 1913 Texas, where aging outlaws must settle one final score. Plot-wise, The Fix is closer to this film as it also sees aging people settle a score, but it is a significant contrast with Heat. Nonetheless, it is an intriguing set of comparisons that make The Fix seem more interesting.

The Fix