Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
By Alex Watson
Although it is entertaining and at points even thrilling action, Jaume Collett-Serra's Run All Night is a little too inconsistent throughout. Marking the third collaboration between actor Liam Neeson and Collet-Serra, this movie is in a similar vein to the previous adrenaline packed flicks Non-Stop and Unknown. Though the story has some interesting marks to it, it just doesn't feel meaty enough to raise this movie to where it needs to be.
Alcoholic mob enforcer, Jimmy Conlon (Liam Neeson) is a man who has made a mess of his life and alienated his relationship with his son Mike (Joel Kinnaman). But when his son witnesses a murder committed by Jimmy's bosses son, Danny (Boyd Holbrook) he forced into killing him to protect his life. Swearing vengeance, his former boss/friend Shawn Maguire (Ed Harris) declares open season on Jimmy! Forced into a corner, the old gunman will have one night to come out swinging to help his kid survive.
Many will no doubt assume this will be yet another Neeson effort where he simply shows up looking tough. Well the early part of Run All Night is a thankful departure from tried and tested material. We first meet Jimmy groggily waking up from another hard night drinking and being mocked by his mob comrades. His life is in a shambles and his son looks upon him with scorn- not only that by former nemesis Detective Harding (Vincent D'Onofrio) is still keeping a close eye on his former killings! The initial bonding exercise between father and son is one that is at first encouraging, but quickly burns out of fuel after a bright start.
The moment that the killing occurs, the movies tone takes a sharp turn into more formulaic action territory. Although there is an icy and memorable showdown seen between former buddies Shawn and Jimmy, the rest of the film lacks the needed ice cold formula. The introduction of fellow assassin Price (Common) fails to really add any real spice to proceedings. Possessing what appears to be his one vengeful look, this guy seems to stalk them like some kind of human terminator. Collet-Serra tries his hardest but unfortunately he cannot help the movie slip off the rails.
Sadly from here we witness what could have been a decent and hard edged crime drama descend into an action and bullet packed action flick. Jimmy is a character that although appears familiar, had the potential to be developed into something interesting. But by the finish he reduced to the typical Neeson staple of simply being handy with a fire arm. Though the finale shootout and his actions that go with it are surprisingly poignant. Just a shame that the rest of movie wasn't in keeping with this type of emotion.
Liam Neeson as usual provides great screen presence and this proves to be some of his best work in quite some time. Jimmy is a man who inside lament his lost life of being married to the mob and secretly yearns to be reunited with his son. Neeson smartly invests a great degree of warmth mixed with his usual killer edge to raise it above Bryan Mills territory. Ed Harris feels underused as the main villain which is tragic when he promises his usual hard eyed brilliance. Also look for a brief but barnstorming cameo from the great Nick Nolte- who proves he has not lost that presence in years gone by!
Run All Night is a movie that wants to be more than it really offers us, but it is a decent and predictable ride all the same. Many will always wonder how long Neeson will keep up his tough guy act? But one thing is for sure- he is pretty good at it so far!
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