Cold Pursuit (15.)
Directed by Hans Petter Molland.
Starring Liam Neeson, Laura Dern, Tom Bateman, Domenick Lombardozzi, Emmy Rossum and William Forsyth. 117 mins.
This Liam Neeson revenge thriller, (planned as his last action role when he still had a say in that decision,) opens with a quote from Oscar Wilde, “Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.” Now opening quotations rarely have much relationship to the movie that follows – Schwarzenegger's Conan The Barbarian opens with a line from Nietzsche - but this revengers farce has a droll dark comic tone. Cold Pursuit may not be The Importance Of Being Earnest of action movies, but its a very dignified way for Neeson to bow out on.
It takes place up in the Rockies, north of Denver, in winter. Real Fargo/ Shining territory. Neeson is the snowplough man, keeping the road open to affluent ski resort Kehoe in the winter, who goes on a murder spree taking out members of the local drug syndicate. Well, they killed his boy. He starts out trying to work his way vertically up their chain of command but his trail of bloody vengeance spirals off into black comedy mayhem.
66-year-old Neeson is the perfect man for this. With his imposing 6”4' frame, he still carries a real threat. He's an inspired mix of doddery and brutal; a simple, down-to-earth man stuck inside a fantasy action hero figure. After their son's death, his relationship with his wife (Dern) falls apart and the few scenes they have together are surprisingly raw expressions of inconsolable grief. His vengeance crusade may just be an excuse for him to get out of the house.
Molland's first English language movie is a desubtitling of his Norwegian film, In Order of Disappearance, and unlike most foreign into English conversions, it has been greatly improved in the process. There are rich characterisations, memorable moments, a really good villain (Bateman) and it sews a thin thread of real pain through its fantasy mayhem. Granted, it loses focus and drags on a bit towards the end, but mostly its a joy.
Directed by Hans Petter Molland.
Starring Liam Neeson, Laura Dern, Tom Bateman, Domenick Lombardozzi, Emmy Rossum and William Forsyth. 117 mins.
This Liam Neeson revenge thriller, (planned as his last action role when he still had a say in that decision,) opens with a quote from Oscar Wilde, “Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.” Now opening quotations rarely have much relationship to the movie that follows – Schwarzenegger's Conan The Barbarian opens with a line from Nietzsche - but this revengers farce has a droll dark comic tone. Cold Pursuit may not be The Importance Of Being Earnest of action movies, but its a very dignified way for Neeson to bow out on.
It takes place up in the Rockies, north of Denver, in winter. Real Fargo/ Shining territory. Neeson is the snowplough man, keeping the road open to affluent ski resort Kehoe in the winter, who goes on a murder spree taking out members of the local drug syndicate. Well, they killed his boy. He starts out trying to work his way vertically up their chain of command but his trail of bloody vengeance spirals off into black comedy mayhem.
66-year-old Neeson is the perfect man for this. With his imposing 6”4' frame, he still carries a real threat. He's an inspired mix of doddery and brutal; a simple, down-to-earth man stuck inside a fantasy action hero figure. After their son's death, his relationship with his wife (Dern) falls apart and the few scenes they have together are surprisingly raw expressions of inconsolable grief. His vengeance crusade may just be an excuse for him to get out of the house.
Molland's first English language movie is a desubtitling of his Norwegian film, In Order of Disappearance, and unlike most foreign into English conversions, it has been greatly improved in the process. There are rich characterisations, memorable moments, a really good villain (Bateman) and it sews a thin thread of real pain through its fantasy mayhem. Granted, it loses focus and drags on a bit towards the end, but mostly its a joy.
