IMDb listing
CNS/USCCB (J. Mulderig) review
Los Angeles Times (K., Turan) review
RogerEbert.com (M. Zoller-Seitz) review
AVClub (I. Vishnevetsky) review
The Commuter [2018] (directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, screenplay by Byron Willinger, Philip de Blasi and Ryan Engle), a Liam Neeson / "Taken" [1] [2] -like vehicle, is a "January movie" that, thankfully, delivers what most familiar with the genre would expect:
In the current version of this nightmare, Neeson plays lowly Michael MacCauley, once an NYPD cop (gotta get the needed skills from somewhere...), more recently a Westchester County (suburban) living "life insurance salesman" who commuted each day to work back to NYC.
Well on the random day during which the plot plays out, he, approaching sixty is summarily laid-off by a arrogant, bean-counting boss because (and what _every_ sixty-year-old American fears ...) ... he can. MacCauley has a family, a son about to go to college, of course. Don't matter. At least the Ancient Greeks would leave one with a cup of hemlock tea to "contemplate one's options."
MacCauley stops by the old precinct to visit his former (and younger) partner (played by Patrick Wilson). A little troubled / sad, he, of course, does not want to make the folks at precinct feel sorry for him. He's assured that "life in the NYPD isn't what it used to be either" and "cheer-up, something may come up..."
Well ... something does...
Sitting down, to take his (last, for at least a while) daily commute home, a mysterious woman (played by Vera Farmiga) sits down next to him, and offers him a "simple job" that probably in a different state of mind, he might have had far more questions about: She asks him to, since he appeared to be "a regular commuter" to identify a person "who does not belong" and to surreptiously plant a small gps device on that person. That's all. Oh yes, and if he did so, he'd get $100,000, $25K of which was hidden in their car's bathroom, to prove to him that she was serious. He says, "he'd think about it." Stepping off the train, she tells him that he has 1 stop to think about it. He takes that stop to go to the bathroom and finds the small package with $25K in $100s waiting for him.
Okay, now he's "in" but ... he hasn't even asked a most important question here: "Why would ANYONE pay a stranger to 'find someone' for $100K?" This can't be good. Of course, it isn't. And, well ... anyone (or group) willing to hand someone $25K just to tease that person into doing something, is PROBABLY going to want (and be able to) to _insist_ that "the job get done" ...
The rest of the movie ensues ...
Dear Readers ... if the plot seems "a little far fetched" well ... OF COURSE IT IS ;-). And yes, Liam Neeson has stepped into this role of "every man" yet ALSO "super man" over and over again. But JUST LIKE A RECURRING NIGHTMARE ... the story works.
Sometimes, when we're _already quite down_ we get ourselves _sucked into nightmares_ even deeper than we dare imagine. But then, we often find that we do have the skills to find / fight our way out...
<< NOTE - Do you like what you've been reading here? If you do then consider giving a small donation to this Blog (sugg. $6 _non-recurring_) _every so often_ to continue/further its operation. To donate just CLICK HERE. Thank you! :-) >
No comments:
Post a Comment