If you’ve seen one Liam Neeson action movie, then you’ve kind of seen them all … with a few exceptions. Since starring in Taken in 2008, Neeson has displayed “a particular set of skills” in the action genre, and most of the movies he’s in don’t call for a lot of the dramatic range that he was known for earlier in his career. That’s not to say that Neeson’s action films can’t be good movies. Some of them rise above the rest, including Run All Night, which is currently back on Netflix.
In March 2015, director Jaume Collet-Serra and screenwriter Brad Ingelsby gave Neeson a new character to play, Jimmy ‘The Gravedigger” Conlon. He’s a former assassin for the mob who is spiritually crushed by the work he used to do and estranged from his only living family members. Yet, in order to save his adult son, Jimmy has to betray his oldest friend and let the killer within come out once again.
Run All Night didn’t make a lot of money, with only $71.5 million worldwide against a $50 million budget. Critics weren’t exactly enthused about it either, but audiences who actually saw the movie gave it high scores. That’s because Run All Night delivers on its premise and has some very strong aspects that elevate it. Here, we’re going to elaborate on the four reasons why you should watch Run All Night on Netflix in December.
Liam Neeson embodies a tormented and broken man
One thing that this movie makes clear from the start is that Jimmy Conlon is no Bryan Mills. That Neeson character from the Taken movies has become his prototypical role in almost everything he’s done since. Unlike Bryan, Jimmy can’t move past the things he did as a hit man and pretend that he’s a normal guy. The guilt eats him up inside and keeps him away from his family. Neeson portrays this in the tentative way Jimmy tries to reach out to his son, Mike (Joel Kinnaman). Jimmy simply can’t figure out how to bridge the gap between them even when their lives are on the line.
Late in the film, one of the other big reasons why Jimmy feels so guilty is revealed, and it’s enough to undo the slight bond he had reestablished with Mike. Without spoiling the details, Jimmy did something unforgiveable that comes back to haunt him at an inopportune time.
The father and son dynamic creates tension throughout
Mike’s knowledge about Jimmy’s double life as a hit man is established early in the movie, and it’s the reason why his father has been banished from his life. Mike understandably has a lot of resentment towardhis dad for being a killer, and he feels weighed down by Jimmy’s misdeeds even when he’s not at fault for Mike’s predicament.
Jimmy has to force Mike to accept his aid, because the cops who answer Mike’s call for help clearly work for the mob. As they attempt to escape detection, Jimmy tries to reestablish any kind of connection with his son, only to be rejected at every turn. This leaves the audience to wonder if there will be a reconciliation, and if either of them will be alive to see it.
It’s a tragic story about a fractured friendship
The ironic part of Run All Night is that Jimmy’s friend and former mob boss, Shawn Maguire (Ed Harris), loves and cares about Jimmy more than his son does. At least initially, Harris brings some inherent heart and humanity to what could have been a by-the-numbers bad guy. When others would turn Jimmy away because of his colossal screw-ups, Shawn offers him charity and friendship.
That friendship reaches its breaking point as soon as Jimmy moves to protect his son over Shawn’s family and interests. In the moment, Jimmy didn’t have much of a choice, but he also has such a strong bond with Shawn that he never once lied to him about what happened. Jimmy probably would have accepted any judgment that Shawn laid out for what he did, if Shawn didn’t also desire to kill Mike as well. Harris and Neeson only get a handful of scenes together in the movie, but Run All Night really comes to life when they face off against each other.
The supporting cast is fantastic
Neeson, Kinnaman, and Harris carry the bulk of the drama in this story, but they’re surrounded by an incredible supporting cast. Daredevil: Born Again‘s Vincent D’Onofrio plays John Harding, a detective who is obsessed with getting Jimmy to acknowledge and confess to his crimes as a mob assassin. In many other movies, John would have been the hero.
John Wick: Chapter 2‘s Common has a small, but memorable role as Andrew Price, a rival of Jimmy’s who has his own vendetta against him. Boyd Holbrook (Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny) has a large part in the beginning of the film as Danny Maguire, Shawn’s out-of-control man-child of a son.
Veteran performers Holt McCallany (The Iron Claw), Bruce McGill, and Genesis Rodriguez also help round out the ensemble cast. This may have been a relatively low-budget action film compared to summer blockbusters, but the performers make this movie more than the sum of its parts. It’s a very entertaining action thriller that punches above its weight.
Watch Run All Night on Netflix.
