I had big expectations before watching the game ofLiam Neeson and Ed Harris. Two very characteristic actors come to grips witheach other just like in the classical movie ’Heat’. The simile is absolutelynot futile because Jean Collett-Serra found Michael Mann’s weaknesses (therestaurant scene, the last fight of Harris and Neeson) but of course it is justa poor plagiarism.
Jimmy Conlon (Liam Neeson) is an ex-hit man alcoholicwho constantly drinks in his boss’ pub until becoming blind drunk. Hisemployer, Shawn Maguire (Ed Harris), who is also his best friend and the headof the local mafia tries to sustain his empire with his own rules.
His son,Danny, (Boyd Holdbrook) makes a deal and spends the money in advance. He believes his father never let him down butin this case he has to disappoint. Danny tries to deal with the actual situationon his own but it ends with murder. Only one eyewitness stays alive, thelimousine driver, Mike, who is the son of Jimmy Conlon.
The story is absolutely not newfangled (from friendship to vendetta, a son who is ashamed of his father, etc.). However, inthe first half hour the scenarist (Brad Ingelsby) tries to show us throughoutConlon family that integrity is not rewarding in long term but after a pursuitscene everything he built up is collapsed. Neeson again becomes just a killingmachine which gives him the same character as Jean- Claude Van Damme, StevenSeagal or Chuck Norris.
His character becomes unbeatable, just like in his recentfilms, a 63-years-old star running with his son through the labor’s tenementswithout a stand-in. If somebody is not interested in the story which is full ofmeaningless sentences and specifically loves the one-man army style movies fromthe ’90s then it will totally fit their taste.
Personally, I truly hope that Neeson returns tocharacters like Aslan, Oscar Schindler, Qui-Gon Jinn, Ra’s Al Ghul, MichaelCollins, Rob Roy or Vallon from Gangs of New York in order to avoid the crew of The Expendables forever.
