Psycho Vigilantes
A Walk Among the
Tombstones
I love mystery movies. The ‘who-dunnit’ films are, to me,
one of the best film genres out there. Going along on the hunt for the villain
every step of the investigation is thrilling to me. Finding out clues when the
protagonist does and putting the puzzle pieces together before they can is
great. I scream at the screen, like they can hear me, trying to tell them who
the killer is. So I hopped at the chance to see a film that has been adapted
from one of the best mystery novels and one from one the great mystery writers,
Lawrence Block. In 2014, Universal Pictures new crime/mystery
film, A Walk Among the Tombstones,
goes to prove that no one is safe from psychopaths.
Matthew Scudder (Liam Neeson) is an ex-NYPD detective
and current AA member working as ‘private investigator’. When Scudder is
approached by another AA member, Peter (Boyd Holbrook Run All Night), his life takes a haunting turn. It seems that Peter’s
brother, Kenny (Dan Stevens The Guest) is
in need of an investigator to help find out who kidnapped and brutally murdered
Kenny’s wife. Though after learning what Kenny does for a living, Scudder is
reluctant to take the case. It is only when Scudder learns how Kenny’s wife was
murdered, does Scudder agrees to find the sadistic killers who are targeting
drug dealers and their loved ones.
I am very perplexed when it comes to reviewing this movie. I
so wanted to like it for the fact of Liam
Neeson (Run
All Night), but I became heavily planted on the fence. Neeson’s acting
was good, at times kind of bland, but on the whole pretty decent. The directing
of the film was okay for a writer/director known to make these kinds of films.
I just didn’t care about any of these characters. The character development is nonexistent
in this film, so my sympathy for what is happening in the movie is very
limited.
Normally I would write here about how well or how terrible
the performances are, but I can’t really bring myself to exaggerate on how
middle-of-the-road all of the performances really come across. Neeson
obviously has the most screen time, but for most of the movie he is busy going
from one place to another chasing ‘leads’ that the audience never really gets
to know him as a character. We get glimpses of his background in a flashback,
but never more than that. The villains of the movie are treated as these
shadowy figures that have no souls, but we never find out why they are
committing these kidnappings. No messed up childhoods, no vendettas, it’s
treated has they are doing these crimes because it’s there to do. Dan Stevens
has done some wonderful work lately and so I am most sad for him in this film.
Stevens’ Kenny is portrayed very emotionless. Kenny is upset by some of the
events that have happened but never strays away from the brooding widow in the
corner. The only character that brought any life to this film was TJ (Astro Earth to Echo), a
teenager living on the streets aspiring to become a great detective. Astro
brought a little humor and great counter-balance to Neeson’s Scudder. What is
funny is that we learn more about TJ throughout the film than we do any other
character.
Writer/director Scott
Frank (The Lookout) has great eye
for the dark and gritty cop drama or film noir films. However, this film doesn’t
pan out so well for him in terms of writing. Frank tries to adapt a fairly
straightforward book into a film that seems to want to be more complicated.
Frank should have spent a little more time developing Scudder and why he is a
complicated character. As I said, Frank has no problem showcasing the rougher
sides to New York and making the tone of the film perfect for what it needs to
be. I just think Frank spent too much time trying to make this film seem
interesting than just sticking with the source material.
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