Run All Night
Grade: B
Director: Juame Collet-Serra (Non-Stop)
Screenplay: Brad Ingelsby (Out of the Furnace)
Cast: Liam Neeson (Schindler’s List), Ed Harris (Snowpiercer)
Rating: R
Runtime: 114 min
by John DeSando
“Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” From the Bible, Galatians VI (King James Version):
Family mob stories all want to be The Godfather’s children, but they never quite reach the sublime crime creativity of that iconic film. Run All Night, starring the durable Liam Neeson as mobster hit man Jimmy Conlon, has a moment or two of above-average action and drama, most of that goodness surrounding Jimmy (Neeson) and his estranged son, Mike (Joel Kinnaman) and some fine acting when Neeson and Ed Harris, as his best friend and former mob boss, Shawn Maguire, go head to head.
The conflict arrives when Jimmy must kill Shawn’s son, Danny (Boyd Holbrook), to save Mike. Yes, the houses of Conlon and Maguire must try to destroy each other while the cops are pursuing everyone. As an assassin, Jimmy was the most lethal player in the NYC playground, not too far ahead of quietly menacing Maguire hit man, Andrew (Common).
What elevates this from just another Neeson actioner is the emphasis on the effects crime has on all family members, from Jimmy, who is suffering depression about the number of people he has assassinated, including the collateral damage his immediate family has suffered. Both sides make the audience feel sympathy, if that were possible, because director Juame Collet-Serra and writer Brad Ingelsby never lose sight of the familial underpinnings of the story and Neeson is so darn likeable.
Yes, I’m perhaps making more out of a thriller than it may deserve, but at this time of year, I’m pleased with a few well-chosen words and a story I can identify with—family, family, it’s all about the family. And I enjoy cinematographer Martin Ruhe’s Google-like sweeping camera high above the beautiful city swooping in for rapid, killer shots. Run All Night is an easy entertainment that won’t ask more than for you to think about the things we do for love.
John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, hosts WCBE’s It’s Movie Time and co-hosts Cinema Classics. Contact him at JDeSando@Columbus.rr.com
