A Walk Among the Tombstones Review

Rated R (Strong Violence, Disturbing Images, Language and Brief Nudity)

Running Time: 1 Hour & 53 Minutes

Cast-

Liam Neeson-Matthew Scudder

Dan Stevens-Kenny Kristo

Boyd Holbrook-Peter Kristo

Brian 'Astro' Bradley-T.J.

David Harbour-Ray

Adam David Thompson-Albert

Sebastian Roché-Yuri Landau

Danielle Rose Russell-Ludmilla 'Lucia' Landau

Ólafur Darri Ólafsson-James Loogan

Mark Consuelos-Reuben Quintana

Laura Birn-Leila Alvarez

Razane Jammal-Carrie Kristo

Marielle Heller-Marie Gotteskind

Maurice Compte-Danny Ortiz

Directed by Scott Frank

Liam Neeson stars as ex-cop Matthew Scudder in Scott Frank's "A Walk Among the Tombstones," based on the 1992 Lawrence Block novel of the same name.

Note: Screened on Wednesday, August 27, 2014 at AMC Loews 34th Street 14.

I used to live in a less-than-savory neighborhood in the Bronx when I was a kid. A common sight that I would see upon coming home from pre-school were these thuggish-looking teenagers who sat on the apartment staircases getting high on marijuana, or some other drug that my young mind couldn't yet fathom. My mom would repeatedly warn me that they were 'bad people' and that I must keep my distance from them at all times. Were they actually bad? I'll never really know, but what I do know is that there's always someone worse lurking about, as exemplified in Scott Frank's slow-burn crime drama "A Walk Among the Tombstones." An adaptation of Lawrence Block's 1992 novel of the same name and the tenth installment in the popular Matthew Scudder book series, Frank fast-tracked the project at Universal following his Academy Award nomination for his script for Steven Soderbergh's "Out of Sight" in 1999 but it unfortunately languished in development hell for over a decade. Harrison Ford was initially set to portray Scudder, with Joe Carnahan—fresh off his 2002 breakthrough "Narc"—as director. However, Ford apparently 'chickened out' due to the source material's edgy content, resulting in Carnahan exiting the film as well. D.J. Caruso was in talks to direct in 2011 but Frank, tired of seeing his passion project repeatedly fall through, decided to just take over the reins himself. The casting of Liam Neeson, who's currently experiencing a career renaissance as an action star, finally gave the long-gestating film adaptation the necessary push it needed to move forward. Less "Taken" and more "The Grey," Frank's "A Walk Among the Tombstones" is old-fashioned to a fault yet it manages to overcome its genre clichés with a compelling mystery and an even more compelling performance from Neeson.

The year is 1991. NYPD detective Matthew Scudder (Liam Neeson) walks into a local bar that's friendly with the boys in blue and orders his usual: two shots of whiskey with a side of coffee. While reading the paper, two armed thugs suddenly burst into the bar, intent on robbing the place. They shoot the bartender dead, rousing Scudder into action despite his drunken state. He manages to kill one of the thugs but the second escapes with a third accomplice, who was waiting nearby in a car. Scudder kills the driver and after a short pursuit, takes down the final thug. Eight years later, a retired—and sober—Scudder makes ends meet as an unlicensed private investigator. A fellow AA member named Peter Kristo (Boyd Holbrook) approaches him at a diner one night about a potential job from his brother Kenny (Dan Stevens). Scudder meets with Kenny at his home and learns that the man's wife (Razane Jammal) had been recently kidnapped and killed. He offers $20,000 to Scudder to find the people that took her but the ex-cop, deducing that Peter's brother is a drug trafficker, refuses to help. Scudder later finds Kenny waiting at his apartment door. The widower reveals that a ransom was requested, which was promptly paid but the kidnappers killed his wife anyway and sent her back in pieces, just for kicks. After listening to a disturbing tape recording of Kenny's wife being murdered, Scudder agrees to take the case. While researching similar incidents in the Brooklyn area, the unlicensed P.I. befriends a homeless teenager named T.J. (Brian 'Astro' Bradley), who begins tailing the retired cop in order to become more like him. Scudder's investigation comes to a head when he discovers that the kidnappers have taken a thirteen-year-old girl (Danielle Rose Russell), forcing him in a race against time to save her.

Between this and the wickedly entertaining "The Guest," British actor Dan Stevens has been having a very good 2014.

All right, let's make this clear: "A Walk Among the Tombstones" is not another "Taken." I was seriously concerned that this would be the case since the trailer made it seem like a retread of the 2009 Luc Besson-produced film. In fact, the only scenes in Frank's film that comes across as "Taken"-like is the prologue, where Liam Neeson's Matthew Scudder singlehandedly takes down three thugs despite being drunk on whiskey shots, and when he threatens one of the kidnappers over the phone. Neeson's latest is a largely subdued affair compared to his more action-packed offerings as it hews closer to the hardboiled detective flicks of old with its retro, film noir vibe. Through the lens of cinematographer Mihai Malaimare Jr., New York—specifically Brooklyn—is shown in a less glamorous light. The script, written by Frank, is rather straightforward as far as storytelling goes. There are echoes of David Fincher's "Se7en" with its serial killer plot but don't expect any surprise twists like that film. While some viewers will find the deliberate pacing too slow, the joy of watching "A Walk Among the Tombstones" comes from the investigation itself and the strange assortment of characters that Scudder encounters. One such highlight involves a tense exchange between the ex-cop and a cemetery groundskeeper named James Loogan, played by a subtly creepy Ólafur Darri Ólafsson. Suspecting him of knowing more than he lets on, Scudder breaks into Loogan's shed at an apartment rooftop. The groundskeeper shows up, knife in hand and ready to attack, but rather than disarm him, the unlicensed P.I. calmly remarks that he can easily take the knife away and 'stick it in [his] neck.' Loogan quickly gives up without protest. It's one of the film's best scenes, helped in large part by Neeson's wry delivery. However, there are moments of cheese, mainly stemming from Scudder's interactions with homeless teenager T.J. He meets him at a local library and enlists his help in using those newfangled computers and internet. T.J.'s inclusion is meant to show Scudder's concealed humanity and have him confront his past but it doesn't really work due to the way Frank writes the teen. His smart-aleck personality comes across as more irritating than charming.

The script's real strength lies in its themes, which is perfectly encapsulated in the film's tagline, 'People are afraid of all the wrong things.' This is manifested in "A Walk Among the Tombstones" in two ways. First, the year the story takes place in is 1999, right in the midst of the infamous Y2K scare. Of course, we all know that Y2K turned out to be a much-ballyhooed non-event but the bitter irony is that only a year later, 9/11 happened. Second, the people who kidnapped and killed Kenny's wife—minor spoiler here—turn out to be two schmoes that you wouldn't even give a damn about if you were to walk past them on the street. During his first meeting with Kenny, Scudder correctly deduces that the man makes his money through drug trafficking and being a former cop, he refuses to help him. However, Kenny convinces the P.I. that he did love his wife and that swift justice for her is the only thing he lives for now. Despite his criminal profession, he's actually not an evil person and the same goes for Yuri (Sebastian Roché), whose thirteen-year old daughter is taken when the kidnappers notice her while she's walking her dog on the street (the scene is creepily set to Donovan's 1968 pop song Atlantis). We just assume they're evil because of what they do. In a city full of thugs and drug traffickers, it's rather ironic that they across as saints when compared to the kidnappers, whom Frank describes in the film's production notes as 'a harbinger of things to come and nobody was paying attention.'

David Harbour and Adam David Thompson deliver impressive performances as sadistic kidnappers Ray and Albert.

Of course, the most compelling aspect of "A Walk Among the Tombstones" is the presence of Liam Neeson. The sixty-two year old Irish actor always gives 110% in his performances and it's no different here despite the role not being all that different from all the gruff, no-nonsense characters he's played in the past five years. Neeson does a fantastic job conveying Scudder's regret and world-weariness but there's also a sense of playfulness to his portrayal, as evidenced by the aforementioned tense exchange between the ex-cop and Loogan. While he may not be battling Albanian thugs or going head-to-head with wolves, Neeson still engages in a fair amount of badassery. Equally impressive are David Harbour and Adam David Thompson, who portray the sadistic kidnappers. Thompson's Albert is the quieter of the duo with his stone-cold stares while Harbour's Ray is the more talkative. I have to say, Harbour's performance made me sick to my stomach, and I mean this in the best way possible. The character is a sexual deviant yet is also sickeningly charismatic. The film never attempts to understand the kidnappers because there's nothing to understand. That's what makes them so frightening. The rest of the supporting cast are solid, with Dan Stevens (who's also currently starring in the wickedly entertaining "The Guest") further distancing himself from his role on "Downton Abbey" as repentant drug trafficker Kenny Kristo.

Released on September 19, 2014, "A Walk Among the Tombstones" has received mildly positive reviews with 66% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics noted that it 'doesn't entirely transcend its genre clichés, but it does offer Liam Neeson one of his more compelling roles in recent memory, and that's often enough.' While Neeson has been a pretty strong box office draw as of late, his latest film debuted with only $12.8 million and fell short of Universal's modest projections. Given its $28 million production budget, it's not a total disaster, although prospects appear dimmer when the film goes up against Denzel Washington's "The Equalizer" in its second weekend of release. The lower-than-expected opening doesn't necessarily mean audiences are tiring of Neeson as Frank's crime drama was always going to be tough sell with its deliberate pacing and icky subject matter. The script sticks close to genre conventions but the central mystery, Neeson's strong performance, and the director's fearless exploration of the darkest recesses of the human soul makes "A Walk Among the Tombstones" well worth a watch.

Final Rating: 3.5 out of 5

"Let her go or you'll be looking behind you for the rest of your worthless life!"