Review of A Walk Among the Tombstones (2014) by Akiko A — 27 Jun 2015

'A Walk Among The Tombstones' is a action mystery movie based on the series by Lawrence Block. A great mystery story that blurs the lines about right & wrong. Good guys & Bad Guys are hard to distinguish.

Liam Nessen is Matt Scudder, an ex-alcoholic NYPD police officer who has been in AA for seven years. He left the NYPD after an incident that changed his life, so now he practices as Private Detective.

He is approached by Peter a fellow sobriety member of AA, who asks Matt if he would see his brother Kenny. Matt meets Kenny realizing he is a heroin dealer. Kenny wants to hire Matt to find out who killed his wife after she is kidnapped by two men who cut her up after he pays a ransom.

Matt walks out only to find Kenny at his door a few days later heartbroken. Matt takes on the case & meets a young teen protege TJ who has sickle celled anemia. TJ admires Matt for what he does, and starts to follow him in his work.

Matt begins to see a pattern that these two guys who killed Kenny's wife have done this before...and many times. He tells Kenny to ask other people in his trade if they have had similar problems. As Matt gets closer he begins to change his perspective of the world.

..and it tests his ideas of how things work. Marr uncovers a pattern in the killings & abduction of women that leads him to a confrontation that tests his will & survival. The story reveals a hidden dark world that exists beyond everyday life struggles.

Liam Nesson is much more subdued as Matt Scudder giving a lot of depth to his character, unlike his 'Taken' movies he is not the dangerous man with a unique set of skills. There are some disturbing moments that helps us consider that we may not know as much as we think about the people in the world we live in.

..danger is not always as clear cut in real life...and motives can be obscure.