Neeson is chilling in icy revenge drama
Cold Pursuit
(out of 4) Starring Liam Neeson, Laura Dern, Tom Bateman. Directed by Hans Petter Moland. 118 minutes. Opens Friday at GTA cinemas. 14A The Iceman cometh?
Well, not exactly. It’s more like a snowplow driver is coming after the rats that brutally murdered his innocent son who got inadvertently caught up in a drug smuggling ring.
And while Cold Pursuit is no American classic of the order of the play The Iceman Cometh, it’s still a decently ripping revenge drama.
Director Hans Petter Moland uses the wintry Colorado landscape cinematography to fine effect, creating a chilly sense of place amidst majestic mountains.
The snowplow itself is such an awesomely powerful beast, it’s almost mesmerizing to watch. It’s too bad there weren’t more opportunities to demonstrate its havoc-wreaking ability, although it proves its worth in one memorable scene.
Liam Neeson plays Nelson Colman as more brusque than chilly. He even develops an alliance of sorts with the bullied son of his arch-nemesis, local drug Lord Viking (Tom Bateman).
Neeson has this kind of part down cold, you might say, having discovered a particular knack for playing action heroes late in his career.
Too bad Bateman wasn’t his equal as the film’s main badass, but he’s a little too shrill — although his eventual comeuppance is certainly satisfying.
Laura Dern plays Grace, the grieving mom, but the filmmakers didn’t write her much of a role; she makes haste to leave after the funeral, ostensibly unable to bear hubby’s stoicism. Soon enough, Nels is dispatching foes with alacrity while musing aloud at odd street names like Speedo, Bone and Limbo.
But the screenplay is stuffed with other characters and complications, which explains the near two-hour running time, including an Indigenous gang of thugs led by White Owl (Canada’s Tom Jackson lending his gravitas).
The result: an escalating body count — don’t try to track the numbers — culminating in a Western-style shootout (well, except for the snow).
William Forsythe has a decent cameo as Nels’ older brother, while John Dornan and Emmy Rossum provide some comic relief as two mismatched local law-enforcement officers who basically do nothing.
Cold Pursuit is the kind of film action fans will embrace, a decent antidote to cabin fever.