The Commuter
Release year: 2018
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Screenwriter: Byron Willinger, Philip de Blasi, Ryan Engle
Starring: Liam Neeson, Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Sam Neill, Jonathan Banks, Andy Nyman, Clara Lago, Roland Møller, Florence Pugh
Insurance man and former cop Michael (Neeson) suddenly finds himself in unexpected financial troubles, so when a stranger (Farmiga) on the train gives him a well-paid and seemingly harmless offer to earn some quick cash, he is intrigued. But maybe it wasn’t so harmless after all and now he is unable to decline.
Spanish director Collet-Serra and Irish actor Neeson (Schindler’s List, 1993) seems a match made in heaven as this is their third collaboration after Unknown Identity (2011) and Non-Stop (2014). All three are highly intense thrillers leaving you on the edge of your seat and their is no wonder in why Collet-Serra has chosen to cast Neeson in the lead again and again. If no one knew before how well the towering height and deep gravelly voice of Neeson suited an action part or how well he could execute an action scene, they discovered it when he surprised everyone in Taken (2008). After a short and sweet summary of Michael’s family life we plunge into his day from hell, where he finds himself in a situation with no apparent way out of. It is intense to a degree where it is exhausting to watch and Neeson does an excellent job selling his character to you.There are several great support from the cast around him, but the focus is on Neeson and he thrives in the focus. Brilliant executed and brilliant played by Neeson, this is a great thriller.
Moviegeek info:
The sixteen personalities that Joanna refers to when she strikes up the initial conversation on the train are the Myers Briggs types.
Picture copyrights:SF Films