Review of A Walk Among the Tombstones (2014) by Simon H — 04 Oct 2014

-----One of the great things about Liam Neeson is his ability to elevate even the most standard material he is given. Ever since Taken he has reinvented himself as the experienced grizzled action star, and he's often been the best things about many of these gritty action thrillers he signs on for. Here there are less human traffickers and wolves to fight, aiming more towards neo-noir thriller, but he's still the best thing about this otherwise insubstantial and mediocre film. A Walk Among the Tombstones lacks the real thrills or emotions to really call it a successful film, but, because of Neeson and its mildly interesting mystery, it's investing enough to merit one viewing. It'll entertain you for about two hours, but it won't do much else.

-----A Walk Among the Tombstones is a neo noir taking place in 1999 Manhattan. Neeson plays Matt Scudder, a troubled ex-cop going through the AA program after an incident eight years earlier. He works as an unlicensed private investigator to make his living. One day a guy from his AA groups comes to Scudder and offers him a job working for his drug-dealer brother, played by Dan Stevens. The Drug-dealer's wife has been kidnapped, and he wants Matt to track down who kidnapped her. This drags Neeson into a dark world of drug-dealers and serial killers as he searches for who has been murdering numerous women.

-----As Matt Scudder, the jaded, world-weary, sarcastic ex-cop with a trouble past and a guilty conscience, Liam Neeson is perfectly cast. He brings a sense of dark humor to many of the interactions he has with the numerous idiots and low-lifes he forced to deal with. He excels at the sarcasm and put-downs his character uses, and regularly convinces us that he is the smartest guy in the room.

-----The film is really just a star vehicle for Neeson, in the same way that Taken or the Grey was. Unfortunately, however, the film lacks the energy or thrills that made Taken so entertaining or the philosophical content that made the Grey so engaging. The film attempts to tackle some deeper issues of guilt and redemption, but this often results in it becoming ponderous. The overall plot is not terribly original; there are several elements you would have seen in other Neeson thrillers. The mystery is engaging enough to keep it from being boring, but there's nothing shocking about its numerous twists. Meanwhile most of the supporting cast-members, including an underused Dan Stevens, don't really have enough screen-time or content to stand out as real characters. They're mostly just there to move the plot along. The only one that stands out is Brian Bradley as TJ, the homeless teenager who takes Scudder on as a very reluctant mentor. Their relationship is the only real content the film has, but even that isn't exploited enough.

-----I didn't hate or even dislike A Walk Among the Tombstones while I was watching, but the more I think about it after the fact the more I realize how lackluster it really is. It's competently put together and gets far on Liam Neeson's charisma, and for some viewers that may be more than enough. I was perfectly content to sit through one viewing. Without much more content, there's no outstanding reason I would want to see it again.