10 Biggest Changes The Bricklayer Movie Makes To The 2010 Book

This article contains mentions of suicide.

This article includes SPOILERS for The Bricklayer.

Summary Aaron Eckhart and Nina Dobrev star in The Bricklayer.

The movie is based on Noah Boyd's 2010 novel of the same name.

The Bricklayer movie makes some interesting changes to the source material.

Aaron Eckhart's new action thriller, The Bricklayer, made some notable changes to Noah Boyd’s 2010 book of the same name. Eckhart once again shows his leading man prowess in The Bricklayer as Steve Vail, a Jack Reacher-like former CIA agent who is rehired to assist in solving an extortion case. Despite a poor critical reception, The Bricklayer’s talented cast and incredible action scenes have made the movie an unexpected hit with audiences, resulting in a The Bricklayer resurgence on Netflix a few months after the film's theatrical run.

When a movie is adapted from a book, there will inevitably be some changes made to the source material. While several changes were made to Boyd’s novel, including adding new plot points and changing some parts of the ending, The Bricklayer tried to stay true to the source material. The Bricklayer might have employed some creative liberties when adapting Boyd’s book for the big screen, but the result was nevertheless a solid action flick that made for an entertaining watch despite its flaws.

Noah Boyd is a pseudonym that the American author Paul Lindsay used when writing his popular mystery novels.

10 The CIA Is The Agency That Was Being Extorted

Radek was blackmailing the FBI

In the movie adaptation of The Bricklayer, the CIA is the agency that was being extorted by Radek, but the book version of the story is based on the FBI. Since the CIA and not the FBI were being blackmailed, several things about the plot of the movie had to be changed. For instance, the movie takes place in Greece where the United States had CIA operatives, but in the novel, the story takes place in the United States since that’s where the FBI is located.

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Another major change that was made as a result of the CIA being the agency in the movie is the role of the journalists in the story. In the movie, Radek targeted foreign journalists who were criticizing the CIA. The book version had Aaron Eckart's The Bricklayer character killing journalists who seemed to be enemies of the FBI to paint the bureau in an unflattering light.

9 The Bank Robbery Scene Was Not Included In The Bricklayer Movie

Steve Vail was recruited by Kate Bannon

The Bricklayer novel starts with a bank robbery. Steve Vail, an ex-FBI agent, is at the bank when two robbers try to run off with millions of dollars. Vail manages to stop the robbery and walks away before anyone can figure out who he is because he prefers to live his life in the shadows. The bank robbery scene was not included in The Bricklayer movie despite it being important in setting up Vail’s role.

In the novel, the director of the FBI is shown the video of how Vail bested the bank robbers and then seemed to vanish into thin air. It's actually Kate Bannon (played by Nina Dobrev) who figures out who Vail is and broaches the idea of enlisting his help in the extortion case. Both of Kate’s bosses are so impressed with how Vail took down the robbers, so they agree to have him join the team and thus begins Vail’s involvement with the FBI case.

8 Victor Radek's Backstory Was Changed

Radek was an armored-car robber

Victor Radek was given a backstory in the movie adaptation that differed from the novel. In the movie, the CIA hired Radek to take down the Russian mafia. Radek later joined the CIA so that he could protect his pregnant wife and daughter from his enemies. When the CIA asked him to take out a rival politician, Radek refused the order, which led the agency to blow his cover to the Russian gangs. After his cover was blown, the Russian mafia brutally killed Radek's family. Radek became determined to avenge his family and was hellbent on destroying the CIA.

The Victor Radek depicted in The Bricklayer novel did not have a sympathetic backstory that justified his horrible crimes.

However, in the novel, Radek is an armored-car robber who was sentenced to prison to serve time for his crimes. While Radek was in prison, he became friends with some of the most brutal murderers who he would later partner up with in his extortion crime when he was released. The Victor Radek depicted in The Bricklayer novel did not have a sympathetic backstory that justified his horrible crimes. He was just a greedy bad guy who would do anything to get what he wanted, no matter the cost.

7 New Characters Were Added To The Bricklayer Movie

Some characters from The Bricklayer novel were not included in the movie

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There are countless examples of characters that are in a novel but do not make it to the movie adaptation, which happened in The Bricklayer as well. This can be because they do not translate as well on screen as they did on paper or because the movie would work better with new characters. The Bricklayer movie featured characters that were not in the book and committed some that appeared in the novel.

For instance, Patricio, Vail’s friend who helped him and Kate with their new identities, is not part of the novel but is included in the movie. Sten, who was working with Radek and tried to kill Vail was also not part of the novel. Other characters in the book were also not featured in the movie. This includes Don Kalcruick, Kate’s boss who hated Vail, the FBI agents who were killed by Radek, and the other members of the Pentad.

6 Steve Vail And Victor Radek Being Friends

Vail did not know Radek

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In the early scenes of The Bricklayer, it's made clear that Vail and Radek know each other. Vail and Radek worked for the CIA during the same time and were as close as brothers. Vail was supposed to protect Radek’s family, but he failed to save them and Radek never forgave him. When Radek refused the CIA's order to kill a rival politician, Vail was ordered to take Radek out. However, Vail decided to let Radek go as long as he stayed hidden.

It was thanks to Vail that the FBI was able to retrieve the money Radek had extorted from them.

Radek and Vail's relationship does not exist in the novel. In the book, the first time Vail encountered Radek was when he was hired by the FBI to find the money that Radek had stolen. Radek despised Vail because he was the only one who was able to see through all his traps. It was thanks to Vail that the FBI was able to retrieve the money Radek had extorted from them.

5 Tye Delson Was The Head Of Station For The CIA

Tye Delson did not have a romantic relationship with Steve Vail

One of the biggest character changes The Bricklayer movie makes from the book is that of Tye Delson. In the movie adaptation, Tye is the head of the station for the CIA. She and Vail had a romantic relationship in the past that ended when Tye did not run away with him as they had planned. However, Tye Delson in the novel was a completely different character.

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Instead of working for the CIA, Delson was the Los Angeles Assistant United States Attorney. She played an integral role in the investigation by providing the search warrants that assisted Vail in tracking down Radek. Even though Tye was interested in Vail, the two did not have a romantic relationship because Vail turned down her advances. Vail and Delson were mere colleagues and acquaintances who respected each other. Their relationship was strictly professional.

4 The Rubaco Pentad Was Omitted From The Bricklayer Movie

Victor Radek was the head of the Pentad

Custom image by Simone Ashmoore

Another major change that The Bricklayer movie makes to the book is the omission of the Pentad. In the novel, the Pentad was a criminal group led by Victor Radek that was blackmailing the FBI. The group killed a Hollywood reporter who was vocal about how the FBI was a terrible agency. After killing her, the Pentad sent a message to the FBI that more journalists would die if they didn’t give them money.

Every time the FBI failed to deliver the money, the criminal group would kill a journalist. The Pentad was such a well-organized group that it took a while for the FBI to even discover that Victor Radek was at the helm of it. Even though the Pentad were not included in The Bricklayer movie, they were at the center of the story in the novel.

3 Steve Vail And Kate's Relationship

Kate and Vail were romantically involved

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Kate and Vail’s relationship in The Bricklayer is depicted as being contentious. Kate and Vail did not seem to like each other and they were both against working together. Kate thought that Vail was hard to control, while Vaill believed that Kate was too inexperienced. Eventually, the pair started getting along and established a student-teacher relationship. In the novel, however, Kate is Vail’s biggest advocate.

Kate was the one who suggested to her boss that Vail should be brought in to help the FBI recover the money that the Pentam stole from them. Kate and Vail’s relationship in the novel is also romantic. The pair even goes on two dates before deciding that romance might not be part of their story. Despite the two dates they go on not working out, Kate and Vail end up together at the end of the novel.

2 The Extortion Story Was Changed

Victor Radek despised the FBI

At the center of The Bricklayer movie is the extortion story. The movie does stay true to that part of the plot, but there were some creative liberties taken when it came to executing it. In the movie adaptation, Victor Radek threatened the CIA with exposing how the United States has been involved in overthrowing foreign governments. To keep this a secret, Radek demanded that the agency send him $100 million in bitcoin. The biggest change the movie makes to the extortion story is why Radek was blackmailing the agency.

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In the movie, Radek wanted to avenge his family while, as in the novel, he simply hated the FBI. Additionally, the amount Radek asked for in the movie was a little too high. In the novel, Radek only asked for $5 million from the FBI. He ordered the FBI to send its agents to deliver the money and killed them in extremely brutal ways that were meant to convey how much he detested the bureau.

1 Kate Bannon Killed Tye Dyson

Tye Dyson took her own life in the novel

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In The Bricklayer movie, Tye is the CIA informant who was working with Radek because he was using her plan to leave the CIA with Vail to blackmail her. When Vail discovered her involvement in the crime, he confronted her, and she tried to kill him, but Kate killed her first. The novel and the movie's ending differ on two important points. While Tye was the informant in both the movie and the book, the circumstances that led to it are different.

In the novel, Radek and Michael Vashon, Tye’s boyfriend, were serving their sentences in the same prison. Radek threatened Tye that he would kill Vashon if she didn’t help him with insider trading. Tye had no choice but to help Radek so she could save Vashon’s life. When Vail discovered how much Tye was involved in the crimes that Radek committed, she killed herself by jumping off her office balcony.

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