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Thursday, May 2, 2024
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HOLLYWOOD THE COMMUTER
EDITOR'S PICK
'The Commuter': Typical Liam Neeson fare (Review By Troy Ribeiro , Rating: **1/2)
"The Commuter", often punctuated with the question "What kind of a person are
you", ignites an ethical dilemma. You feel that the film is going to turn out to
be a psychological thriller. But alas! That's where it all ends.
This film, like all Liam Neeson's previous solo endeavours, lands up being just
another thriller, packed with Neeson's brand of badass action.
In this film, Neeson plays Michael MacCauley an ex-police officer who now works
as a by-the-book insurance salesman. The opening act of the film sets up the
everyday toils of MacCauley as a loving father and a devoted husband who gets
ready every morning and takes the same train to-and-fro to work.
This routine is set, till one fine day he is unceremoniously given the pink
slip. Shaken, since he still has a few familial obligations pending, MacCauley
is wary about the future. Desperation hits him till a mysterious woman (Vera
Farmiga), tempts him with $100,000 for an anonymous act. She tells him that
someone on this train doesn't belong there. He has to identify the person and
tag him/her with a tracker.
And before he has fully understood what's at stake, MacCauley has entered into a
Faustian pact from which there is no going back. Matters become worse when he
makes any attempt to backtrack. Soon it becomes a race against time for
MacCauley to sort out the mystery on the train, save the victim on the train and
his family from an uncertain fate.
The screenplay is convoluted and cliched and doesn't feel authentic in its
portrayal of what it's actually supposed to be.
While the premise of the film is promising, the plot falters in its ambition as
it ends up seeming to have been put together by an amateur screenwriting duo -
Byron Willinger and Philip de Blasi. The story then seems to have been revised
by "Non-Stop" screenwriter Ryan Engle. The three of them have been given credit
for writing the script.
No matter what was Willinger and Blasi's contribution or Engle's overhaul to the
story, the end result is not overtly exciting. The tale is a middle of the road
effort.
But the efforts put in by Liam Neeson as the action-hero is definitely
noteworthy. When MacCauley reveals, "Sixty years and what else I've got to
offer," you realise, Neeson is playing his age and has nothing exceptional to
offer, but nevertheless, for his age he is more than convincing.
He is backed by a solid supporting cast including Farmiga who appears in only
two scenes but quickly makes herself a pivotal player. She effortlessly enhances
the mysterious nature of her antagonist character. Patrick Wilson plays his
friend and confidant Alex Murphy with aplomb.
The others in supporting roles are a slew of character actors depicting a
multi-ethnic New York straddling many classes.
On the tech front, cinematographer Paul Cameron's camera work is initially a bit
disappointing. His fames are shaky and distracting. Nevertheless, as the
narrative progresses, he manages to give us brilliant visuals of action
sequences which have smooth and impressive transitions which in turn are
effortlessly layered by the editors.
Overall, despite a cliched and overexposed narrative that weighs it down, the
film delivers precisely what fans of the action star expect, a B-grade
entertainer.
In this action-packed thriller, Liam Neeson plays an insurance salesman, Michael, on his daily commute home, which quickly becomes anything but routine. After being contacted by a mysterious stranger, Michael is forced to uncover the identity of a hidden passenger on his train before the last stop. As he works against the clock to solve the puzzle, he realizes a deadly plan is unfolding and is unwittingly caught up in a criminal conspiracy. One that carries life and death stakes, for himself and his fellow passengers.
