Movie Review: Run All Night

Run All Night doesn't do much new, but it tells its story in the most effective manner possible.

Story by Matt Cummings

If there's one thing we recently love about Actor Liam Neeson, it's the one thing we also hate. Having re-established his career with the Taken series, Neeson has become the go-to guy for one-note action vehicles, starring in Non-Stop, A Walk Among the Tombstones, and many others. And therein lies the problem: too many of the same movies for too long has left audiences with Neeson Malaise, as if we have collectively recognized the need for him to move on to something else. Fortunately, Run All Night proves he still works in these vehicles, even if the pieces haven't changed much.

The aging assassin Jimmy Conlon (Neeson) has lived a life of deadly confrontations, amassing a body count that's made him a wanted man in New York City. But Detective Harding (Vincent D'Onofrio) can't seem to pin the litany of dead bodies on Conlon, thanks to his long-time friend Shawn Maguire (Ed Harris), who's rise to prosperity on Conlon's 'acheivements.' Jimmy's troubles also revolve around his estranged son Mike (Joel Kinnaman), who one night witnesses a murder by Shawn's son, prompting an assassination attempt that Jimmy prevents. This leaves Shawn's son dead and the father so enraged that he targets Mike, placing him and Jimmy in the crosshairs. Through a wild night of car chases, gun battles, and a showdown with the mercenary Pierce (Common), Jimmy and Mike must fight to stay alive, even though one of them won't return home.

Director Jaume Collet-Serra crafts a gritty, ugly film that makes you think twice about living in The Big Apple, with its unwieldy mix of crowded city streets, loud public transit, and colorful characters that most home-spun families would never touch. He gets the underbelly of New York like few directors can, moving around the city with interesting CGI that flies from location to location before landing near our characters or on a dirty street where extreme close-ups of a cyclone fence or some other story element is featured. He achieved the same marvel in Non-Stop, demonstrating for the first time how cell phone texts could be used as an effective plot device.

But Run is much more than pretty images; its heart is decidedly dark and tired, portraying its leads as those who've lost more than their souls can bear. From Neeson's disheveled look to Harris' seedy rise to power (now hoping to become a respectable businessman), everyone here has paid some price to get where they are, mirroring the real-life rabbit hole which some of us can never escape. Writer Brad Ingelsby wraps multiple layers of story around the central theme - that of the father vs. son - as the film ultimately lands towards a surprising conclusion. Run also is blessed with an honest-to-goodness antagonist for Neeson to chew up some scene. In Non-Stop, the baddies are revealed as something far less interesting; here, it's nothing short of Conlon's best friend. That plays out quite well, although other issues feel like more of the same.

Run's cast is well-stocked but mostly filled with one-off characters, from Bruce McGill playing Harris' right-hand man to D'Onofrio's Harding holding an obsessive desire to see Conlon imprisoned for his executions. We learn just enough about them to know their place but that's it; McGill in fact speaks no lines...at all. Then there's Common, who plays a sort of preppie assassin desperately wanting to be as badass as John Wick, whose character and motives are never explored. That makes his showdown with Conlon a little hard to appreciate, considering how events play out prior to the climax. But this is Harris' and Neeson's kickball game, and their chemistry is the best Neeson has had in this run. While Harris might be best known for his portrayal of John Glenn in The Right Stuff, he makes a terrific sympathetic badguy, honoring Hollywood's recent trend that doesn't seem to tire. Add Collet-Serra's unique staging to the story, and you have something old that feels more new than it has in awhile.

Kinnaman - known mostly for his role in The Killing with Mirelle Enos - does a serviceable job here, although his mumbling and chronically understated performances have always made me wanting more. His role here is clearly that of the hard-working family man caught in the middle of his father's violent past, with Neeson hoping to turn the page and XX wanting his father to just go away.

And while Neeson plays the elder assassin with a grim tiredness that comes through in every scene, it's that exact aura that some will find disheartening; for it's clear that we're nearing the end of this gentrified action run. In Run, we can see it most clearly in the stuntwork, which is obviously not him; his moves are too fluid, too dynamic, and conveniently hidden in shadows for us to believe. But Cinematographer Martin Ruhe does give us several great action set pieces including a chase with Conlon hunting down a cop car through the streets of New York. There's nothing new about them, but they're well-executed and therefore highly enjoyable. What also works is the bizarrely epic soundtrack by Junkie XL, which makes you wonder if Conlon is headed for battle against Orcs or The Klingons.

If my tone here suggests inner-conflict, you would be correct: while I liked much of Run All Night, I'm ready to see Neeson move on. He's hit the high point of this phase of his career, with a director who's produced his two best films in that time period. Even though Neeson has stated he will retire from the genre in two years, I won't hold my breath to see that statement become reality.

Bolstered by strong performances and a visually gritty style, Run All Night is easily one of Liam Neeson's best. It's too bad this one is about to be shellacked this week by Disney's Cinderella, if the lack of attendees at our screening is any indication of its potential box office success. Still, I encourage you to check out this little gem, and give a listen to Junkie XL's excellent soundtrack, even if it's a bit misplaced. If we are seeing the end of Neeson's strong run of action films, this one is surely a high point to end on.

Run All Night is Rated R for Rated R for strong violence, language including sexual references, and some drug use and has a runtime of 114 minutes.

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