Run All Night: No running away from the formula

March 27, 2015 04:21 pm | Updated December 05, 2021 09:09 am IST

Liam Neeson appears in a scene from "Run All Night."

Liam Neeson appears in a scene from "Run All Night."

Run All Night

Genre : Action/ Crime

Director : Jaume Collet-Serra

Cast : Liam Neeson, Joel Kinnaman, Ed Harris, Boyd Holbrook, Vincent D O'nofrio, Genesis Rodriguez

Rugged man seeking redemption, tough guy fighting it out to salvage honour— Liam Neeson knows the tropes of this genre well. In his second innings he has 'taken' upon himself the task of playing the brooding aging man caught in a situation with conviction and is doing a pretty good job of doing wrong things with good intentions. Director Jaume Collet-Serra has been his partner in crime. Remember last year's "Non Stop" in the skies where the two took the title literally. Here again they are at it. But this time apart from his ammunition, Leeson brings his acting kit along as well.

One night, erstwhile hit man Jimmy Conlon (Neeson) has to come out of hibernation to save his estranged son Mike (Joel Kinnaman) from the fury of his ex-boss Shawn (Ed Harris). Mike has seen Shawn's hot-headed son Danny (Boyd Holbrook) indulging in excessive violence and as luck would have it Danny gets killed in a skirmish. Now Shawn holds Mike responsible and Jimmy has to step in to save his son from his old pal. Of course there is a dedidcated cop (Vncent D'nofroio) lurking in the corner. There is a scared wife as well.

The narrative is replete with generic tropes but that has never stopped Neeson from making us believe in his intentions. Here again he growls and we feel it is genuine; Collet-Serra provides him the necessary pace from a camera that has gone breathless. And between all the well-mounted chase sequences in the dark alleys of New York, when it boils down to how two fathers are fighting their past to salvage their future, the caricaturish feel gives way to something substantial and tangible.

Bottomline: The destination is clear from a distance but running along Neeson is not a waste of time.

Top News Today

Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.