Run All Night
Mobster and hit man Jimmy Conlon has one night to figure out where his loyalties lie: with his estranged son, Mike, whose life is in danger, or his longtime best friend, mob boss Shawn Maguire, who wants Mike to pay for the death of his own son.
Director:
Jaume Collet-SerraWriter:
Brad IngelsbyStars:
Liam Neeson, Ed Harris, Joel Kinnaman | See full cast and crewStoryline
Professional Brooklyn hitman Jimmy Conlon is more commonly known as THE
GRAVEDIGGER. Jimmy was a mob hit-man, who was best friends with his boss
Sean Maguire. But when Jimmy's son, Michael, is marked for death by the
mob, Jimmy must go up against Sean to protect Michael at all costs.
Together, he and Michael must avoid corrupt cops, contract killers and
the mob to survive the night.
User Reviews
A immensely satisfying blend
of gripping mob drama and thrilling action setpieces that is easily
Liam Neeson's most credible work in recent years
Before you dismiss the
latest Liam Neeson action movie 'Run All Night' as yet another iteration
of 'Taken', let us reassure you that there is much more to this mob
thriller than meets the eye. True, Neeson plays a former man of violence
with a 'particular set of skills' who is forced to employ them in order
to save his family, but that's about where the similarities end.
Indeed, while that franchise never quite had any ambition than as a
glorified B-movie, this latest team-up between Neeson and his 'Unknown'
and 'Non-Stop' collaborator Jaume Collet- Serra proves itself as an
impressive amalgamation of the Oscar- nominated dramatic skills on which
his earlier career was built on and his more recent kickassery.
Brad
Inglesby's script starts by giving us a glimpse of Neeson after the
fateful events of the titular evening – that is, lying in a forest and
bleeding from a shotgun wound – before rewinding sixteen hours before to
fill us in. As we soon learn, Neeson's Jimmy Conlon wasn't in a much
better state before his most recent run-in with mob boss and childhood
friend Shawn Maguire (Ed Harris) that had led to his current
predicament. An alcoholic mocked by the denizens at the local pub for
farting in his sleep, the former Brooklyn hit-man was once Shawn's
trusty right-hand man, but has now been reduced to playing Santa at the
latter's son's birthday party for quick cash, which he spends drowning
his guilt over the people he has killed and the family he has alienated
through the years.
As bad luck would have it, Jimmy's estranged
son, Mike (Joel Kinnaman), who only wants to take care of his pregnant
wife and two young kids and to have nothing to do with his father,
stumbles upon Danny executing two Albanian drug dealers. When Danny
turns up at Mike's house, Jimmy intervenes to save his son and ends up
killing Danny, setting in motion the subsequent series of events which
will see father and son move through New York City while being pursued
by Danny's men – including a professional assassin named Price (Common)
who has his own grudge with Jimmy – as well as crooked cops looking to
stay on Shawn's payroll.
Rather than just skip to the chase,
Collet-Serra and his screenwriter Inglesby invest in a more
character-driven narrative than may be expected. A pivotal scene has
Jimmy confessing to Danny's murder shortly after Shawn returns from the
morgue to identify his son's body, which poignantly expresses not just
one father's grief (and consequent thirst for revenge) from the death of
his son but also another father's paternal instinct to protect his
family by whatever means possible. Whereas 'Taken' (pardon the pun) the
latter for granted, Collet-Serra wisely lets the polarising dynamic
between Jimmy and Shawn define the conflict that ensues, giving both
characters and their longstanding friendship turned brutal rivalry both
shading and nuance.
Lest it be forgotten, Neeson and Harris are
both accomplished actors in their own right, and both manage to find
their characters' empathetic core. Collet-Serra understands Neeson's
'particular set of skills' in playing the fallible hero, and gives his
lead actor space and breadth to explore his character's vulnerabilities
and motivations – even bringing in an unbilled Nick Nolte to add
patriarchal weight to the proceedings. Kinnaman doesn't get enough quiet
scenes with Neeson for their father-son relationship to develop into
something truly compelling, but the actors share a good rapport that
give the action scenes added emotional texture.
And in that
department, Collet-Serra doesn't disappoint. Reining in the hand-held
shots that made the last 'Taken 3' an absolute nightmare to watch even
on the big screen, Collet-Serra fashions a couple of impressive
sequences that make full use of its New York locale. A thrilling cop-car
chase through the streets of Brooklyn easily puts 'Taken 3's' highway
chase to shame, while a high-rise apartment complex on fire provides a
tense backdrop against which Jimmy and Mike attempt to protect a kid
witness. There is also the iconic Madison Square Garden, which provides
the scene for a daring escape right after a Rangers-Devils game, and
heightens the Big Apple atmosphere while keeping the gritty noir-ish
feel of the earlier scenes.
It is certainly tempting to see this
as yet another attempt to cash in on Neeson's newfound action hero
status, but 'Run All Night' distinguishes itself with some well-filmed
setpieces to satisfy the adrenaline-hungry crowd while staying grounded
with enough characterisation and good acting for its audience to be
rooted with the characters on screen. It is also his best collaboration
yet with Collet-Serra, who seems genuinely interested at making a movie
tailored to the actor's strengths than simply cashing in on a fad. Even
and especially if you were disillusioned with 'Taken 3', 'Run All Night'
is a good, solid slab of macho entertainment that should wash away the
bitter taste of that over-the-hill franchise.