Liam Neeson embarks on an after-hours artillery barrage in
“Nonstop” director Jaume Collet-Serra’s “Run All Night,” (***1/2 OUT OF ****),
a vigorous, but formulaic, bullet-riddled, crime thriller that keeps the NYPD
busy until dawn. No, “Run All Night” doesn’t imitate Neeson’s
“Taken” trilogy. Neeson’s “Run All Night” hero qualifies more as an
anti-heroic underdog, while “Run All Night” shares more in common with Neeson’s
earlier abduction opus “A Walk Among the Tombstones.” “Tombstones” cast
Neeson as an ex-NYPD cop who quit the force after one of his stray slugs killed
an innocent child. Neeson’s “Tombstones” hero lived alone and
attended AA meetings when he wasn’t trolling for clients as an unlicensed
private eye who preferred to work off his pay in trade. In other
words, he wasn’t too fastidious about his clients and crossed the line between
good and evil without a qualm. Conversely, Neeson plays a washed-up
enforcer in “Run All Night” for a merciless Irish Godfather (Ed Harris) who
keeps his lifelong pal on the payroll because they started out together.
Comparatively, “Run All Night” is pretty grim, but it isn’t as creepy as “A
Walk Among the Tombstones” with its pair of villainous homosexual maniacs who
abducted women and carved them up for fun and games. Moreover,
these two movies make the three “Taken” thrillers appear hopelessly
whitewashed. Nevertheless, “Run All Night” is the kind of actioneer where
you still root for the hero, even though you suspect he may have to confront
consequences before fadeout. Perhaps the closest thing to “Run All Night”
would be Martin Scorsese’s Italian crime movies, like “Goodfellas” where Robert
De Niro portrayed a trigger-happy lunatic. Ultimately, the chief
difference is Neeson’s itchy trigger fingered hitman redeems himself for his homicidal
past. While Neeson dominates the action, Ed Harris is no slouch as his
no-nonsense, tough-as-nails, Irish mob boss. Joel Kinnaman, Boyd
Holbrook, Bruce McGill, and Holt McAloney round out the seasoned cast, with
African-American actor Lonnie Rashid Lynn, best known by his nickname ‘Common,”
standing out as an obnoxious assassin with a grudge against the Neeson hero.
Neeson plays Jimmy “The Gravedigger” Conlon, a notorious Irish
gunsel who not only has managed miraculously to stay out of jail, but who also
has rubbed out opponents by double-digits. Since his wife died, Jimmy has
spent most of his time nursing a bottle while he wrestles with his conscience
about all those people he executed for infamous crime chieftain Shawn Maguire
(Ed Harris of “A History of Violence”) who ruled the Irish mafia in New York
City with a steel fist. Mind you, this doesn’t mean Jimmy has lost
his touch. All that booze hasn’t diluted the ice water flowing
through his veins. He hasn’t lost that lethal knack that he
perfected during his dark days of killing. Lately, Shawn has relaxed and has
promoted his pride and joy, Danny Maguire (Boyd Holbrook of “The Skeleton
Twins”), as head of operations. Unfortunately, paternal love has
blinded Shawn to Danny’s flaws. Moreover, Shawn doesn’t realize the
mistake that he has committed by turning over his largely legitimate empire to
his decadent son. Not only has Danny foolishly convinced himself
that he is invincible but also that he is bulletproof. Furthermore, Danny
feels the desperate urge to prove himself to his dad. He brokers a
million dollar deal with some unscrupulous Albanian heroin dealers that he
thinks his father will applaud. The Albanians assure Shawn he will
never regret their partnership. Shawn surprises them when he turns
down their deal and sends them packing. Predictably, Danny is livid
with indignation until Shawn explains how he pulled a similar stunt with
cocaine twenty years before and had to wipe out half of his friends because
they had become rip-snorting junkies. Shawn doesn’t want to repeat
his earlier mistake. An irate Danny owed the Albanians already so
he has no alternative but to blast both of them into eternity. What
Danny doesn’t plan for is the witnesses who saw him ice the Albanians.
Meanwhile, Jimmy has an estranged son, Mike (Joel Kinnaman of
“Robocop”), who took a swing at professional boxing but crapped out.
Mike is nothing like his father. Mike has kept his nose
clean. He drives a limo, has two adorable little daughters, and has
gotten his wife Gabriela (Genesis Rodriguez) pregnant with their third
child. Mike leads a budget-pinching, but largely happy life on a
blue-collar income. When he isn’t driving the limo, Mike mentors an
orphaned African-American teenager. He is coaching Curtis 'Legs'
Banks (Aubrey Joseph of “Fading Gigolo”) in the art of boxing at the local
gym. When he isn’t boxing, ‘Legs’ fools around with his new smart
phone. Mike encounters ‘Legs’ one evening after he has taken the
two Albanians to confer with Danny about their abortive heroin smuggling deal.
Danny tosses the Albanians a satchel bulging with bogus bills, laughs at
them, and then perforates them. After he caps the second Albanian,
Danny discovers that Mike has been sitting nearby in the limo that delivered
the two Albanians. Naturally, Shawn is infuriated about this
unforeseen turn of the events. Things grow complicated because Danny
fears that Mike witnessed one of the murders. What he doesn’t know is that
Legs captured the murder on video. Worst of all, Danny doesn’t count on
Mike’s father showing up and shooting him in the back of his head before he can
blast Mike. Now, a grieving Shawn launches a full-scale war against
Jimmy for bumping off his only son.
Director Jaume Collet-Serra allows “Run All Night” to unfold in
flashback, but this gimmick doesn’t sabotage the suspense. The
resourceful Neeson is about as devastating against his own bloodthirsty mob as
Denzel Washington was against the Russian mafia in “The Equalizer.”
Collet-Serra orchestrates an exciting car chase through traffic congested Big
Apple city streets that will keep you squirming. He also relies on snappy
Google Earth transitions to maintain spontaneity. “Run All Night” runs out of neither
momentum nor surprises during its 114 minutes.
