PLOT: Disillusioned by the end of the war in Afghanistan, a group of disgraced, war torn ex-CIA operators set out to Tehran to take down a life changing score.
REVIEW: 2026 is a pretty awkward year to release a film about a covert operation in Iran, but sometimes timing just doesn’t work out. Adding even more political baggage to the mix, The Fix (originally titled Hotel Tehran) also deals with the controversial U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan. But, despite the political implications, it’s probably best to set your expectations from the jump: The Fix doesn’t succeed in delivering a compelling, competently made thriller.
The Fix follows a group of Armed Forces who are trying to get one of their assets out of Afghanistan. They fail their mission and are a bit disgraced. But when the opportunity comes along for a big score in Tehran, they take it, desperate for a bit of excitement. Zachary Levi plays Tucker, a man who doesn’t know how to be anything except a soldier, and Liam Neeson is Larry, a higher-up who starts suffering from Dementia. The entire setup is very strange because the idea of a group of mercenaries executing this dangerous mission, all because of the word of a man with memory issues, makes them all look really dumb. Though most of their stupidity regarding the situation is explained away with a simple “We missed doing missions and WANTED to do this.”
Levi is cold and calculated, having seen plenty of awful things during his tour of duty. He’s the least of the film’s problems, and any issues with his character come from the writing versus anything from Levi himself. He’s very believable in the role even if the character has issues like abandoning his son, and being treated like a hero when he finally manages to see him. Liam Neeson may get second billing but he’s hardly even in the film, making up somewhere between 5-10 minutes of screentime. He’s not invested in anything going on here and was probably on set for a couple of days and I’m starting to be wary when I see Neeson’s name pop up in a film. Something should also be said about the very bad dye job with his hair, as I’m not sure what the hell the filmmakers were thinking there.
Zara (Elnaaz Norouzi) is brought along as a distraction due to her undeniable beauty, but she is easily the most frustrating element. It’s all intentional, but she never seems to understand the severity of the situation, and her stupidity puts others in needless danger. It all just comes across as bad writing versus an interesting obstacle to overcome. Especially when certain revelations occur, showing they really didn’t need to take the path they did. Turns out that making a bunch of special forces guys look like morons doesn’t make for a satisfying watch.
Whether it’s the music choices or strange edits, I’m not sure I agree with director, Guy Moshe’s vision. His idea of introducing stakes is a random cutaway to women being shot against a wall or characters putting themselves in bad situations. The film is constantly telling you how high the stakes are without actually showing much consequence to our main group. Hell, someone loses a leg, and it’s treated like an afterthought within the very scene. Anytime I felt myself getting somewhat invested in the story, there was some new plot element to just make it all the more convoluted. This extends the runtime to untenable lengths and results in a very boring time.
It’s really hard to get invested in a story where the characters are their own worst enemies. It’s not just Zara, as the entire third act is determined by Tucker’s terrible decision-making. But, had anyone just used a little bit of logic, we wouldn’t have some of the twists and turns. Again, bad writing. I also have to call out the random moment that feels straight out of Forrest Gump, complete with a park bench and an eerily similar suit worn by Neeson. It just adds to the “geezer teaser” aesthetic. And, as grounded as the film tries to be, the CGI explosions can be very distracting.
The Fix is a fairly competent movie on a technical level (save for some awful ADR) that is completely let down by its script. The actors do the best that they can, but it’s difficult to make some of these character decisions anything but frustrating. Everything is tied up in such a sloppily neat bow, that it’s hard to escape the propaganda label. There is a fairly interesting plot thread regarding the soldiers being forgotten by their government after giving up so much of their lives for them. But they push past it so quickly that it rings a bit hollow. Which, sadly, perfectly encapsulates this movie.
The Fix is playing in theaters on September 11th, 2026.
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