Neeson’s latest thriller botches ‘formula’
Liam Neeson is a nice guy who, in many of his films, is pushed and pushed until the poor man snaps.
Such is the Neeson formula: insane rags-to-riches tales in which his character comes fully and deeply into his own by unleashing all his lethal impulses. The formula has produced a series of satisfying thrillers, ever since “Taken” of 10 years ago.
But the actor’s latest film, “Cold Pursuit,” blows the formula.
The kicker with such Neeson films — the part that makes you smile just to think about them — is that, however exciting they might be, they’re also unintentionally funny — absolutely deadpan. If anyone behind or in front of the camera know it’s all ridiculous, no one ever lets on.
But in “Cold Pursuit,” director Hans Petter Moland is in on the joke in “Cold Pursuit.” And he lets us in on the joke, too.
Unfortunately, that kills the joke altogether. Which is a shame, because the story should have been Neeson fan nirvana: He plays a forest ranger, working in Colorado in the dead of winter, who finds out that his son has died of a drug overdose.
But Junior didn’t use drugs; he was murdered by a drug kingpin. The slaying prompts Nels (Neeson) to go on a rampage, killing — one by one — those responsible.
“Cold Pursuit” is based on a 2014 Norwegian film “In Order of Disappearance,” also directed by Moland — so the former ends up being a strange hybrid. Neeson is as earnest as ever, but the movie’s tone is arch; Neeson doesn’t think he’s funny, but the director thinks everything is funny — or, at the least, absurd.
Consequently, the movie just doesn’t make sense. “Cold Pursuit” needed to be all one or the other. “In Order of Disappearance” should have been remade without Neeson, or the concept should have been entirely refashioned as a Neeson vehicle, with a different director.
There’s something else, too: “In Cold Pursuit” is about a man seeking revenge, and even though one might reasonably expect revenge would be a great motivator in action movies, it almost never is.
A mad rush to save someone’s life — that is urgent; it must happen now. But getting even with somebody? That can happen today, tomorrow or next year. It matters little.
So, unless the revenge aspect is there for the sake of a serious meditation on the subject of revenge itself, rather than as a catalyst for action, revenge is usually a bust in terms of drama.
All warning notwithstanding, fans of Neeson’s
action thrillers will find moments here of pleasure and amusement.
There is, for example, the faux naive tone at the start of every Neeson film: He has a breeziness about him, as if nothing bad could possibly happen, and yet we know that his world is about to cave in.
There’s also the fun of watching villains smart-talk the old guy, never guessing that he is a man on a short fuse, not to mention a man with a set of skills that make him a nightmare for smarttalking villains.
“Cold Pursuit” also boasts an appearance by William Forsythe as Nel’s brother, a former gangster.
Forsythe is the kind of actor who looks tough — who suggests a whole life of violent unpleasantness — while simply sitting on a living-room couch.