Michael Buckner/PMC The Polo Lounge is packed during lunchtime in late March. A boys’ club of agents chomp artisanal breadsticks, and about 15 ladies lunching after a corporate award ceremony gab into the void of a twinkling baby grand piano. None of them seem to realize that Renny Harlin is sitting nearby, but they’ve surely seen his movies (especially the agent bros). Exceedingly tall with Nordic good looks, Harlin is an architect of the modern action film. While critics have been tough on the Finnish director’s blending of human sentiment and thrashing violence and pyrotechnics, audiences know his brand – consciously or unconsciously. In early days, his successful entries in the “Nightmare on Elm Street” and “Die Hard” franchises propelled him to the top of every studio’s wish list. The Sylvester Stallone tentpole “Cliffhanger” and the forward-thinking female action flick “The Long Kiss Goodnight” put him over the top. Movie star marriages and intermittent box office bombs tested his mettle. He’s been a teenage film buyer in Cannes, a Shell Oil shill, a Steven Spielberg acolyte and, before COVID, an expat making films his way for 6 years in China. Above all, he’s been tenacious and uncompromising in his vision for the movies. Variety sat for a wide-ranging conversation with Harlin ahead of Friday’s release of his latest film “Deep Water.” Here, Harlin tells us his story through his credits.
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