A decorated Vietnam veteran, Jim Hanson (Liam Neeson) spends his days patrolling the border in search of “illegals.” He’s lost everything: his wife (to cancer), his livelihood, and now his ranch. And the mounting hospital bills have left him broke. Relax. It’s a movie. Things are bound to get worse from here. While on the prowl, he encounters Rosa (Teresa Ruiz) and her young son Miguel (Jacob Perez) fleeing a drug cartel. Jim calls the sheriff before realizing just how much danger the mother and son are in. A violent exchange leaves Miguel an orphan and Jim guilty of killing the brother of the ring’s thrill-killing leader Mauricio (Juan Pablo Raba). A curbside vigil finds Rosa saying her last goodbyes and asking Jim to drive the boy to her family’s Chicago home. A guilty streak and a plot in need of motivation have their say, and in no time, Jim has kidnapped the boy from the border patrol office with the help of his late wife’s duly-sworn daughter Sarah (Kathryn Winnick), and it’s off to the Windy City. Miguel initially blames Jim for his mother’s death. He pretends not to know a word of English, but we know it’s just a matter of time before the kid lets his guard down. Happily, their relationship never borders on mawkish. Together, they make a fine pair, with Jim, a Godzilla with a cowboy hat, towering over Miguel’s diminutive Minilla. Jim is a guy who gets the job done. The decision to take Miguel to Chicago was his, and it’s something he is going to have to live with. If this sounds like a Clint Eastwood hand-me-down, it might very well have been one. Eastwood’s former 1st AD-turned-director Robert Lorenz (Trouble With the Curve) leads with an uncluttered visual style, a respect for his characters framed in juxtaposition with the land that would make his former boss proud. (2021) — Scott Marks