WATCH THE TRAILER HERE
As the weekend comes to a close, there was still the second major film release from it left to view. With this completed, OneFilmFan.com presents our review of the Vertigo Entertainment/Energy Entertainment-produced and Warner Brothers-distributed actioner, “Run All Night”.
Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra (“Unknown“, “Non-Stop“), the story takes us to the underbelly of New York City and into the disheveled life of mobster hitman Jimmy Conlon (Liam Neeson), whose “better” days are long behind him. Turning to the bottle as his source for any kind of meaning, his world gets upended further when his estranged son Michael (Joel Kinnaman) inadvertently gets tangled in a situation gone wrong involving Danny (Boyd Holbrook), the trouble-making son of Jimmy’s boss, Shawn Maguire (Ed Harris). When said circumstances escalate and Jimmy is forced to defend his son’s life, it sets in motion a chain of events that threatens Michael and his family. Still initially reluctant to join up with his father, the decision becomes necessary and more immediate when Shawn meets with Jimmy and advises he will come after Michael with the full force of his criminal assets, even despite Jimmy’s protestations and plea for leniency. Soon, with the odds stacking up against them from both sides via a NYC Detective, Harding (Vincent D’Onofrio) and a contract killer hired by Shawn, Price (Common), Jimmy has to make the hard choices of learning where his own loyalties lie given his past deeds, his longtime friendship with Shawn, and the fate of the son he loves, much less his own.
Hitting the viewer with the more intensified and frenetic action of “Taken” with the gritty, crime world tones of “A Walk Among The Tombstones“, “Run All Night” most certainly delivers on its dark narrative while still bringing the basic premise of a father protecting his son at all costs to bear. Neeson simply excels in this type of role: the deep voice and ability to flat out bring it in the film’s multiple knock-down, drag-out fight sequences as well as a serious car chase and copious amounts of gunfire. Likewise, Ed Harris again proves his “bad guy” chops as Maguire, a man with serious anger issues given the circumstance that sets everything off. He ominously sets his gaze on doing everything possible to get revenge, and Harris’ trademark voice and both direct and subtle intensity is on full display. Kinnaman is solid as Michael, trying so desperately not to become his father, hating him for so many things, and yet always knowing deep inside the love he has for him. As mentioned above, the film is violent and language-filled too, but honestly, thanks to Neeson and Harris giving us the kind of characters we’ve come to enjoy over the years, along with the visceral action, at least some of the edginess is understandable, if not at least a little more tolerable. Neeson in particular recently stated that his action-film days are soon coming to a close, so seeing him do this type of in-your-face role is still a joy to be had while it lasts. It is a film that is what it is, and doesn’t pretend to be anything else.
As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
