If you saw the trailer for Liam Neeson's newest action thriller and wanted to pretend it wasn't happening, you weren't alone. Not that those pictures aren't entertaining. Neeson is so good at being badass that people seem interested in watching him shoot people, get in car chases, and say mean things in a gravelly voice, even when the script, camerawork, and score are just awful. More than that, our average audience seems a little too eager to love a now-run-of-the-mill narrative involving a hetero white American man who violently seeks to dominate other (lesser, by virtue of skin color, sexuality, occupation, or ethnicity) men and thereby save apparently helpless, vulnerable, sexually violated, skinny hetero white women.
This film is essentially the same thing. So why do I give it a score of four? Let's talk.
The story is familiar, but this film gives it a fresh approach. Tense, dark, and heavy, it feels more film noir than action thriller. It has no comic self-awareness at all, to its immeasurable credit (with so many similar films under his belt, the day will come). Cinematographer Mihai Malaimare Jr (who also filmed 2012's The Master) views the film as stark and cold, using close-ups and graded colors to highlight this harsh world. Writer/director Scott Frank (who wrote Dead Again, Minority Report, The Wolverine, and Marley & Me) slows things down just enough to make us squirm during the rough stuff -- which is most of the picture, right from the opening shot. Literally. The gunshots in the first scene are loud and grating. Frank keeps this up through the film, to remind us that guns aren't toys or even necessarily the weapons of heroes. They are explosive, unnatural, and dangerous, much like the characters who wield them.
This film is especially striking because its villains are twisted and unnerving, and its heroes are no different. Neeson -- a private investigator hired to find the men who rape, murder, and dismember women -- is hard-boiled, but is also world-weary rather than vengeful. More grim than angry, he lets his acting (which we haven't seen in too long) thrive in the dark charms of Tombstones. There's just enough fresh material for him to shine. Dan Stevens (from Downton Abbey and this year's The Guest) hauntingly plays his employer, a drug kingpin, and recent film star Boyd Holbrook works under him in a no less memorable role. Sebastian Roche (Fringe, among many others) joins later as Yuri, who desperately wants to save his abducted daughter.
For such a graphic and dark film, it stays engaging because it is also a bit of a mystery. In a lot of ways, its aesthetic, tone, and content reminds me of Prisoners (2013). We discover along with Neeson exactly what drives the murderers, what connects the victims, and finally what monsters lurk in the shadows. We see the hope and the hopelessness, we experience the gritty horror and the awkward humor. Speaking of humor, Brian "Astro" Bradley (Red Band Society) plays Neeson's young sidekick TJ, and his banter with Neeson makes this film sparkle. Neeson quickly takes to this kid and eases into a paternal figure, and I love it. The recovering alcoholic (Neeson goes to meetings regularly) subplot is great, and adds a lot to his character. Its match-up with the climax, however, feels too contrived and preachy. I won't say too much, but the twelve steps are voiced-over during the last, I don't know, twenty minutes. That bit's pretty heavyhanded.
IMDb: A Walk Among the Tombstones
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