Lucas Versantvoort / April 28, 2015
Liam Neeson is certainly enjoying the fruits of being one of the most
in-demand action stars today. Ever since Taken,
he’s been kicking ass all over the place, with some films being more successful
than others. Run All Night appears to
be a straight-up action flick and it is, but it’s also trying to be something
more, something ‘deep’ and that’s when the film occasionally falters. Overall,
it’s a fun watch.
So, you’ve got mob boss
Shawn Maguire, played by the ever reliable Ed Harris, who when we first meet
him rejects a drug deal that could earn him millions on the notion that it
would ruin him and everyone around him in the long run. Because his son, Danny,
convinced the Albanians his father would agree, he feels disappointed and now
has to pay them back. Okay, so Shawn’s a ‘good guy’ mobster and his son’s feels
like he can’t meet his expectations. Then you’ve got Jimmy Conlon (Liam
Neeson), a once famous hitman who worked for Shawn and is still his closest
friend, but is now spending his days staring at the bottom of shot glasses in
bars. Jimmy’s son, Mike, has a family of his own and wants nothing to do with
his father who was never there for him. He limos the Albanians to Danny who
smiles and makes small talk before killing them. Mike sees it happen from the
inside of his limo and is chased by Danny who’s obviously trying to cover his
tracks. Just as he’s about to be shot, Jimmy comes along and shoots Danny,
saving his estranged son. Realizing what will happen, he calls Shawn to let him
know what happened. This kicks off the running all night the title refers to,
as Shawn sends every man he’s got after Jimmy, Mike and Mike’s family. Jimmy
convinces Mike to temporarily set his feelings aside and let him help in
avoiding Shawn’s henchmen.
As far as action is
concerned, I had a good time with Run All
Night. If you’ve seen Taken or
any modern action flick, you’ll know what to expect on the action side of
things. Things get interesting when the story tries to be dramatic. I don’t
know about you, but I was mostly cringing at the slow male bonding between
Jimmy and Mike. It’s not just that you can already predict that things will
work out between them, it’s the fact it always takes place in those short
moments in between action set pieces. One moment they’re avoiding hails of
bullets and suddenly Mike’s complaining to his dad who then tries to explain
everything, etc. It’s not that the writing is terrible, it just doesn’t feel
natural. But the most mindboggling thing about this film is that Jimmy’s
supposed to be having a conflict of interests. On the one hand he wants to save
his son, but on the other it’s suggested he might give his son for the sake of
his friendship with Shawn. Even the basic plot description on IMDb reads as
follows: 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. That might very well have been the dramatic intention,
but I didn’t get that at all. So,
you’re telling me that even though Shawn tells Jimmy he’ll kill both him and
his son and that Jimmy rescues Mike time and again, that Jimmy’s still thinking
of what’s best for his bond with Shawn!?
Aside from this major
fail on the part of the filmmakers, Run
All Night is quite entertaining…for lack of a better word. As far as the
dregs of modern action flicks are concerned, there’re worse things to watch. At
least here, you’re treated to some thrilling action set pieces and isn’t that
what you’re there for in the end?
No comments:
Post a Comment