THE COMMUTER (15)
★★★
HAVING now established a kind of second-wave action hero career for himself, Liam Neeson returns for this ludicrous yet fairly entertaining thriller that resembles an amalgamation of Speed, Source Code and Murder On The Orient Express.
Neeson plays 60-year-old Michael MacCauley, a cop-turned-insurance salesman who has been riding the same commuter train every day for the last decade. Each time he sees the same faces and speaks the obligatory niceties, each day uneventful and almost identical. That is until one morning a mysterious woman (Vera Farmiga) he has never seen on the train before sits down across from him and strikes up an intriguing conversation.
But a perfectly innocuous discussion about a hypothetical moral experiment soon turns sinister as it’s revealed he has just inadvertently agreed to take part for real.
His task is to find a specific passenger who doesn’t belong on the train before it arrives at its final destination or else he and his family will face dire consequences.
This is the fourth collaboration between Neeson and director Jaume Collet-Serra, after high-concept action-thrillers Non-Stop (Neeson has to stop a killer on a plane), Unknown (Neeson has to figure out why no one recognises him) and Run All Night (Neeson has one night to save his son).
The Commuter is a similarly ridiculous affair with enough plot holes to drive a train through; you really have to check in most of your brain at the door, retaining just enough to keep up with the many increasingly implausible twists and turns as it hurtles to a fittingly over-the-top finale.
And yet there’s something fun and involving about the film, a kind of Hitchcockian, Agatha Christie-esque approach that revels in the simple pleasure of trying to work out what exactly is going on. This is married with Serra’s impressively stylistic, B-movie directorial approach that ramps up the tension and is unafraid, for example, to execute an extended one-shot take of a fight that climbs over and around the train seats. The film fits a familiar mould but at least it attempts to visually stand out from the crowd.
Then there’s Neeson himself who both gives good value as the action hero the Taken franchise saw him morph into – the film somehow finds the time for a handful of fist fights, shoot-outs and potential train derailment peril amidst its whoisit mystery – and as an engaging everyman suddenly caught up in a situation his monotonous commute certainly hadn’t prepared him for. It’s nonsense but you get the distinct feeling it knows this and has fun with it.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here