Front Row at the Movies
"A Walk Among the Tombstones"
Another Actioner for Liam Neeson
Reviewed by Shirrel Rhoades
At 62, Irish actor Liam Neeson is an unlikely star to be doing action movies. Not ready for the Geritol, he set a brisk pace with "Taken," followed by "Unknown," "Taken 2" and "Non-Stop."
"I just hope my knees hold up," Neeson quips.
They’re still holding, considering the title of his current flick is "A Walk Among the Tombstones." It’s now playing at the Tropic Cinema.
Action fans won’t be disappointed. Based on a Laurence Block mystery, he plays Matthew Scudder, a former cop who works as an unlicensed private eye. A recovering alcoholic, Scudder chooses his cases carefully, applying the AA’s 12 Steps to his methodology.
A number of Block’s books have made it to the screen. Back in 1986, Jeff Bridges played Scudder in "8 Million Ways to Die."
In this first Liam Neeson outing, Scudder reluctantly takes on an assignment for a drug dealer whose wife has been kidnapped and murdered. Seems that some psychopaths are targeting family members of drug dealers (hey, they’ve got plenty of money to pay a ransom).
He teams up with an unlikely partner, a spunky street kid (Brian "Astro" Bradley) who fancies himself a private eye in training. The boy’s unwillingness to follow orders helps Scudder crack the case. You can count of lots of dead bodies.
Yes, Neeson’s knees hold up, but just barely.
Therefore, you can look for "Taken 3" in theaters next spring.
srhoades@aol.com
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