An Excellent Screenwriter, Scott Frank, Directs this Neo-Noir with the Unlikely Action Hero, a 62 Year Old Liam Neeson. The Film is an Homage to the Noirs of Yore and it isn't Shy About it. Filmed in the Rain and On Gritty Streets and Dilapidated Buildings it Sets a Tone of Foreboding Not the Least are the Two Psycho/Sadist that Seem to Kidnap, Mutilate, and Rape Their Victims and Also Get Their Money.
They Will Get the Comeuppance, that is Never in Doubt, but Getting There is Thing of Novels and this is Pulp Pure and Simple. When the Movie is Dealing with the Psychos and the Drug Dealer Families it is at its Best. The Film Also Excels at Interesting Offbeat Characters that Populate the Mean Streets, Like a Weirdo Who Raises Pigeons.
However, the Movie is Not Without Some Missteps. The Inclusion of a Homeless Teen is Hokey. Can't Imagine Sam Spade or Philip Marlowe Parenting Such a Cliché. It is a Modern Sensibility that Doesn't Fit. It Doesn't Ruin the Movie but it Also Doesn't Help.
Speaking of Not Helping, the Ending Freeze Frame, 12-Step Recital is Another Modernism that is Not Welcome in Such a Downbeat, Scuzzy, Thriller. Once Again it Almost Ruins, but Not Quite, the Effective, Bleak, Camera Work that Had Framed the Film to That Point.
Overall, it is a Good and Stylish Attempt at a Throwback to the Detective Genre. Neeson does a Lot of Gumshoeing. The Aforementioned Missteps Aside, this is Good Entry Into the Film World of Detective Fiction that Came from a Popular Pulp Character that to Date has Walked Among the Missing and the Dead for 17 Books from Author Lawrence Block.
They Will Get the Comeuppance, that is Never in Doubt, but Getting There is Thing of Novels and this is Pulp Pure and Simple. When the Movie is Dealing with the Psychos and the Drug Dealer Families it is at its Best. The Film Also Excels at Interesting Offbeat Characters that Populate the Mean Streets, Like a Weirdo Who Raises Pigeons.
However, the Movie is Not Without Some Missteps. The Inclusion of a Homeless Teen is Hokey. Can't Imagine Sam Spade or Philip Marlowe Parenting Such a Cliché. It is a Modern Sensibility that Doesn't Fit. It Doesn't Ruin the Movie but it Also Doesn't Help.
Speaking of Not Helping, the Ending Freeze Frame, 12-Step Recital is Another Modernism that is Not Welcome in Such a Downbeat, Scuzzy, Thriller. Once Again it Almost Ruins, but Not Quite, the Effective, Bleak, Camera Work that Had Framed the Film to That Point.
Overall, it is a Good and Stylish Attempt at a Throwback to the Detective Genre. Neeson does a Lot of Gumshoeing. The Aforementioned Missteps Aside, this is Good Entry Into the Film World of Detective Fiction that Came from a Popular Pulp Character that to Date has Walked Among the Missing and the Dead for 17 Books from Author Lawrence Block.