Year of Release: 2018
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Starring: Liam Neeson, Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Sam Neill, Elizabeth McGovern, Jonathan Banks, Killian Scott, Florence Pugh, Shazad Latif, Andy Nyman, Roland Moller, Ella-Rae Smith, Dean-Charles Chapman, Nila Aalia
Genre: Action, Thriller
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 4
Watch it on Amazon
Synopsis and Review:
Spanish director Jaume Collet-Serra continues his steady collaboration of films with Liam Neeson, with "The Commuter" being their 4 joint effort (following "Unknown", "Non-Stop" and "Run All Night"). The film follows the story of Michael MacCauley, a 60 year old married man, who previously worked in law enforcement, but is now working as a life insurance salesman. Michael commutes daily into New York/Manhattan, and as the story starts to unfold, we witness his day going progressively worse, as he's let go from his job. Having lost most of his savings and investments from the 2008 recession, losing the job at this point is a particular hardship for him (and his family of course). On his trip back home, he sits across a woman, who introduces herself as Joanna (she also adds she's an academic, someone who studies human behavior). She eventually makes a proposal to him: he'll get 100,000 dollars, if he manages to locate a passenger who doesn't belong on that commute, someone by the name of "Prynne", who has something stolen in their possession. Joanna tells him he has the first tranche of the reward in the bathroom, and the rest will be given to him upon accomplishing the feat. Michael finds the money, and suddenly finds himself in a rapidly escalating situation. Joanna, as it turns out, knows a lot more about him and his family, and blackmails him on their safety, if he doesn't uncover the identity of that passenger, someone who turns out is a witness on a killing that has ties with underground crime and even law enforcement. Michael has to use all his skills and strategy to somehow uncover who the passenger is, keep his family in safe, and avoid being killed in the process.
Liam Neeson has managed to create a career for himself in the past 12 years (in essence since the release of Pierre Morel's "Taken"), as a new and a bit more polished version, of what Charles Bronson was doing in the late 70s and during the 80s with Canon pictures. His characters are typically cut from the same mold: stoic men, with principles, incorruptible, who somehow find themselves in situations that push them to the edge of sanity and moderation. And once pushed far enough, his response comes in the shape of an unleashed fury and violence, that destroys everything in its path. The roles have some slight differences between them, but in essence are somewhat identical, and allow for Neeson to showcase his physicality and charisma, something he always has had as early as can be witnessed in Sam Raimi's "Darkman" for instance. "The Commuter" isn't as formulaic as the "Taken" franchise, since it tries to capture some faint influences from Hitchcock and his "Strangers on a Train", but those influences are quickly discarded in favor of some typical stunts and action set pieces that we've come to expect from these films (and that are also, to a certain extent, influenced by the style, aesthetically and editing perspective, of Paul Greengrass's Jason Bourne films). What barely salvages this film, is indeed its cast, with Liam Neeson finding good support from the always great Vera Farmiga, alongside Patrick Wilson, Jonathan Banks and Sam Neill. The cast makes the film worth watching, but just barely. Forgettable.
Liam Neeson has managed to create a career for himself in the past 12 years (in essence since the release of Pierre Morel's "Taken"), as a new and a bit more polished version, of what Charles Bronson was doing in the late 70s and during the 80s with Canon pictures. His characters are typically cut from the same mold: stoic men, with principles, incorruptible, who somehow find themselves in situations that push them to the edge of sanity and moderation. And once pushed far enough, his response comes in the shape of an unleashed fury and violence, that destroys everything in its path. The roles have some slight differences between them, but in essence are somewhat identical, and allow for Neeson to showcase his physicality and charisma, something he always has had as early as can be witnessed in Sam Raimi's "Darkman" for instance. "The Commuter" isn't as formulaic as the "Taken" franchise, since it tries to capture some faint influences from Hitchcock and his "Strangers on a Train", but those influences are quickly discarded in favor of some typical stunts and action set pieces that we've come to expect from these films (and that are also, to a certain extent, influenced by the style, aesthetically and editing perspective, of Paul Greengrass's Jason Bourne films). What barely salvages this film, is indeed its cast, with Liam Neeson finding good support from the always great Vera Farmiga, alongside Patrick Wilson, Jonathan Banks and Sam Neill. The cast makes the film worth watching, but just barely. Forgettable.
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