'A Walk Among The Tombstones': Are Critics 'Taken' With Liam Neeson's New Thriller?
If you're looking for Liam Neeson to repeat his "Taken" tricks this weekend, perhaps it's time to temper your expectations.
Neeson once again takes center stage in a new revenge thriller called "A Walk Among the Tombstones," written and directed by Scott Frank, and based on the Lawrence Block novel of the same name. But it's far away from the action-packed "Taken" franchise. Neeson plays a calmer, more collected character here, though he certainly boasts his own unique set of skills.
Here's what critics have to say about Neeson's new thriller:
The Story
"Liam Neeson stars as Matthew Scudder, an unlicensed P.I. who was on the NYPD until he drank himself off the job; now, he works when and however he can. He explains it to a potential client, wealthy and respectable drug trafficker Kenny Kristo (Dan Stevens): 'Sometimes I do favors for people, and sometimes they pay me.'
"Kenny, introduced to Scudder by his barely-sober brother Howie (Eric Nelsen), needs much more than a favor; his wife was kidnapped by men who knew he couldn't exactly call the police, and after Kenny pays the ransom, they send his wife back -- in individually wrapped pieces, each about the size and weight of one of the packages of product that are Kenny's business. Kenny wants simple eye-for-an-eye revenge; what Scudder winds up giving him when the killers take another victim is far more complicated." — James Rocchi, About.com
Neeson's "Taken" Away
"This isn’t a revenge story, a narrative built on personal vendetta, or the arc of a grief-stricken husband; all roles Neeson has mastered and, in many ways, been pigeonholed in. If anything, Neeson plays that guy for all of 5 minutes before the opening credits, and then swiftly leaves that part of his performance behind to portray a much more demure, unperturbed and mysterious Scudder for the rest of the film. The calm unfolding of events and leisurely flow of Frank’s screenplay compliments Neeson’s performance, and these two combined forces instill a kind of serenity into 'Tombstones' that should prolong the picture’s shelf life." — Nikola Grozdanovic, The Playlist
The "Downton" Drug Dealer
"Frank loves writing complex criminal characters, and so Kenny isn’t a typical movie drug lord. Stevens — trying hard to shatter his nice Cousin Matthew on 'Downton Abbey' image and succeeding beyond his wildest dreams — gives him a coiled intensity, but also notes of vulnerability. Despite his creepy stillness and highly controlled line readings, he actually seems decent — a man who got in the wrong business, where he learned to project toughness while hiding his true self." — Matt Prigge, Metro
Victims of Violence
"However attractively shot, with its moody palette and scrupulous framing, 'A Walk Among the Tombstones' can be tough to watch, particularly in its fleeting images of tortured women. Mr. Frank doesn’t shy away from the story’s horrors, and you may never want to visit a butcher shop again. Yet the only throat he shows being cut belongs to a man. Women die, but without becoming cinematic spectacles, a relief given how often their dead bodies are used as ornaments elsewhere. That decision distinguishes this movie from the usual genre fodder and dovetails with what emerges as its almost obsessive interest in the devastations of male misogyny and violence. This is a man’s world, Mr. Frank makes clear, from bloody start to finish." — Manohla Dargis, The New York Times
A Better Fit For Television
"They don’t make movies like 'A Walk Among The Tombstones' anymore… and maybe that’s a good thing. Scott Frank’s adaptation of Lawrence Block’s novel (one in a series about protagonist Matthew Scudder) is something of a dinosaur because this sort of storytelling - straightforward tales of troubled men dealing with the dark underbelly of the world - has migrated so completely to television that 'A Walk Among The Tombstones' feels absolutely out of place on movie screens. What’s more, it feels entirely too short - at eight or ten hours, 'A Walk Among The Tombstones' could have been a great examination of intriguing characters, but at two hours it’s a solid diversion that will really appeal to dads." — Devin Faraci, Badass Digest
"A Walk Among the Tombstones" is in theaters now.
