Run All Night Review

[Westside Steve]

Run all night

Warner Brothers

R. 114 min

 

If I didn't preface the last Liam Neeson movie with a mini rant about typecasting, I probably should have. I do understand that while any artist would probably love to show versatility as the years go by, that it's not completely terrible to have constant work even if that means playing basically the same guy. You need an older tough guy, possibly a recovery or current alcoholic with a shady past? Someone trying to rebuild a relationship with family? Well add to that that Saint Patrick's Day is almost everybody's favorite holiday and it all adds up to the venerable Mr. Neeson.

Last time he played an Irish ex-cop and ex drunk with a troubled past. This time in RUN ALL NIGHT he's Jimmy Conlon, an Irish ex hitman who's drunk for the entire movie.

Both Jimmy and his old mob boss Sean Maguire (Ed Harris) have turned their backs on violent world they grew up in. Unfortunately Maguire's son Danny (Boyd Holbrook) has run afoul of some very dangerous heroin dealers.

Meanwhile Jimmy's son Mike is a hard working straight arrow who wants nothing to do with his old man. Ironically during the course of his job as a limousine driver he and a young boy are witnesses to a multiple murder when a drugged out Danny executes the members of the drug cartel. Danny then turns his hazy vision toward killing who he believes is the only witness, Mike.

Jimmy can only save his own boy by killing the son of his best friend and therein lies the conflict at the heart of the film. The old crime boss is honor bound to revenge the death of his only son.

To complicate matters the police are under the mistaken impression that Mike is involved with the drug deal murders.

Jimmy's perilous task is to protect his son and avoid an army of professional killers. In a bizarre turn of events it seems the only person he can turn to is the cop (Vincent D'Onofrio) who has been feverishly working to connect the ex-hit man with a long string of murders.

As for the ending, it's nothing really shocking especially if you are familiar with the rules of classic theater, the tragic flaw in particular. We know that under those sanctions there is no way Jimmy will be allowed to live but there are other things to be resolved. Why did I like this one a little better than the last few very similar outings from Neeson? Well, this one is even darker than the rest and even more steeped in the tradition of the Irish American underworld.

That's always a plus for those of us you stretch out the Saint Patrick's Day holiday at least for another week.

Add to that a top-notch cast which lifts this bleak tale of redemption to the next level.

 

B

 

WSS