22 September 2014 | jadepietro

6 | Walking in Circles

￼ This film is mildly recommended. That accomplished Irish actor, Liam Neeson, sidestepped a distinguished Broadway stage career (Anna Christie, The Judas Kiss, The Crucible) for the allure of the big screen. After successful roles in diverse films like Nell, Rob Roy, Michael Collins, Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace, Kinsey, and his peak performance in Schindler's List, he found his niche as an action hero, a sort of everyday common man facing one crisis after the next, just bordering on, but not quite, the superhero. Most moviegoers seem to enjoy this screen persona and his recent acting choices in these conventional thrillers. A Walk Among the Tombstones is another one of these exercises in the action genre with mostly entertaining results. ￼Neeson plays Matt Scudder, a disgraced ex-cop and now P.I. who is hired by a drug dealer (Dan Stevens, taking a giant leap from his Matthew Crawley character from Downton Abbey) to find his wife's killer and exact revenge. Along the way, our solemn hero runs into many unsavory characters, violent encounters, and gruesome murders. His investigation also lead him to a runaway sidekick named T.J. (Brian "Astro" Bradley) who idolizes the detective genre and talks of Sam Spade and Phillip Marlowe. As moviegoers, we are suppose to connect that association with our modern crusader, but there's really no parallel in comparison. Their relationship seems forced and lacks credibility. Their sparing is only there as a plot device to move the action along. ￼A Walk Among the Tombstones holds one's interest, especially in its first hour, as Scudder tries to unravel the killings and the motives for the crimes, but midway, the guilty parties are revealed and the gripping mystery never picks up the pace from there. Instead, the film becomes just another predictable and somewhat dull crime thriller with murder and mayhem overtaking the plot. There are moments of real suspense due to the solid direction by Scott Frank, but his screenplay has some leaps of logic throughout the film. Also, unexplained events during the climactic showdown never quite fall into place. One expects some twists or sudden revelation, but it's all routine procedure and not completely satisfying. Neeson is effective and bring much authority to his role. Adam David Thompson and especially David Harbour are eerily believable as menacing and crazed villains. Ólafur Darri Ólafsson and Eric Nelsen offer strong support in smaller roles. A Walk Among the Tombstones is a grim tale of murder and violence that rambles to its ultimate conclusion when it should strive for more. GRADE: B-