Everybody has watched a Liam Neeson action film once in their lives, at least a part of one. Since 2009, it’s a rite of passage as familiar as Marvel movies and Star Wars discourse. After the death of his wife, Natasha Richardson, Neeson switched his career path, moving into action hero territory. An older normal-seeming guy with a particularly lethal set of skills goes after someone for threatening his family. One of cinema’s worst dads ever still didn’t take any shit!
Taken kicked it off, and several hits or misses followed. Films like The Grey stood out, but Run All Night remains an underappreciated Neeson-led action film. Before he penned Mare of Easttown and The Way Back, screenwriter Brad Ingelsby wrote a white knuckle thriller, Run All Night--co-starring Ed Harris, Common, Joel Kinnaman, Vincent D’Onofrio, Boyd Holbrook, and Bruce McGill.
Harris is so good as Shawn Maguire, the gangster who starts the film as an ally to Neeson’s Jimmy Conlon before becoming his nemesis. He shares two great scenes with his chief co-star, the second one happening in a crowded restaurant where silent threats are exchanged.
At its heart, Run All Night is about two fathers and their sons dealing with the consequences of their actions in a 16-hour period. Without giving too much away, director Jaume Collet-Serra’s film mirrors Road to Perdition in many ways, something I tackle in a brand new episode of the Ramble On with Buffa podcast… with VIDEO!
Give it a look and leave a comment below. Do you prefer video or just a podcast? I want to know.
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