The Commuter (2018)

August 7, 2018 7:42 AM

An Insurance Salesman/Ex-Cop [Liam Neeson] is caught up in a criminal conspiracy during his daily commute home.

57/41 on Rotten Tomatoes, 56 on MetaCritic

How Liam Neeson's Roles Are Aging With Him. Non-stop action: why Hollywood’s ageing heroes won’t give up the gun.

‘The Commuter’ Has Panic, Paranoia and Punches. Liam Neeson Too.

So is this a ' paranoia-soaked railroad thriller "The Commuter" ' ... 'Frustratingly not-quite-there from start to finish' [Matt Zoller Seitz, 2 stars], unintentionally comedic which 'may be the silliest of Jaume Collet-Serra and Liam Neeson's low-rent, high-impact thrillers' that is 'preposterous but watchable'?

Or is this the first great movie of 2018, a train worth catching that reaches peak Neeson, a 'Gleefully Absurd ‘Taken’ on a Train'?

posted by the man of twists and turns (4 comments total)

I went and saw this movie in theaters several months back. Liam Neeson Punching People is one of my favorite genres, and this one mostly delivers.

Is it a good movie, strictly speaking, as far as movies go? No. But I'd put it in the top 5 of Liam Neeson Punching People movies, probably.

I looked up on my facebook to see what I thought about it after seeing it, and this is what I said: "I rate the new Liam Neeson Punching People Movie 3.5 out of 5 Albanian sex traffickers." I think, looking back on it now, I have a 4/5 Albanian sex trafficker memory of it.

Definitely going to need to rewatch this now that it's out on DVD. Maybe this weekend. Liam Neeson does a good punch.
posted by phunniemee at 8:36 AM on August 7, 2018 [2 favorites]

This movie has a huge amount happen, and then you look at your watch and there's still an hour of movie to go. I guess that makes it better, in the way you get more bang for your buck, but it's also exhausting that way. Neeson takes a lot of hits in that first half that would have him crippled in the second, but of course he's practically tap dancing at the end of the film. (Actually a dance number at the end right before the credits would add a couple of stars to it's rating.)
posted by Catblack at 9:13 AM on August 7, 2018

There was an interview that claimed that if they'd filmed where the story was actually set, it would have been about a minute from Neeson's house upstate. He joked that he was actually a little bummed out that filming took place on a London soundstage.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:58 AM on August 9, 2018

Huh, that was ok.
Like, not actually good, but not in any way bad.

Nice to see Clem Fandango getting film work.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 3:27 PM on December 3, 2018