‘A Walk Among the Tombstones’ Review: Liam Neeson phones in a violent, moody crime caper
Despite his aversion to guns, Liam Neeson is back shooting down bad guys in A Walk Among the Tombstones in a bloody, brutal and unsatisfying action film.
Written and directed by Scott Frank, Tombstone is based on the Lawrence Block book and character Matthew Scudder, a recovering alcoholic New York detective entangled in the search for a serial killer of individuals (women and one girl) close to drug kingpins. Neeson’s Scudder also adopts an black homeless teen (Brian “Astro” Bradley) as an ally in a back story to the cat and mouse games.
Downtown Abby star Dan Stevens is transformed into a drug trafficker whose spouse was murdered, even after he paid the ransom, and he wants revenge. After hiring Scudder, the detective begins to discerns the modus operandi and attempts to foil the last plot.
Neeson is simply the wrong actor for the role. Scudder is not a knockoff of Brian Mills from the Taken franchise, yet the audience is left wondering if there is a redeemable quality in any of the characters. Scudder clings to Alcoholics Anonymous as a crutch to deal with his other demons and the Serenity Prayer just plays foolishly to admonish the character’s evils.
The moody style and interesting colors make the film very watchable, but the action is overly predictable and offer little to the genre. Bradley entertains as the sarcastic teen, but the storyline distracts from the action and offers nothing at the end.
The film also stars David Harbour, Adam David Thompson, Razane Jamaal, Sebastian Roche and Boyd Holbrook.
Overall A Walk Among the Tombstones receives 2 stars out of 5 stars.
I’m in the minority here, not liking the film, but it was a creepy torture film attempting to be an old school thriller, but lacked any surprises and centered on a character that I never cheered for. Clever and witty at times, the film doesn’t even feature a female who isn’t a victim.
