Liam Neeson has certainly proven himself as an action star in the last few years, but it’s sometimes easy to forget he’s also an accomplished dramatic actor. His new movie A WALK AMONG THE TOMBSTONES is absolutely a mixture of both. Directed and written for the screen by Scott Frank (THE LOOKOUT), and based on the 1992 Lawrence Block novel, the film was actually at one point (about a decade ago) even eyed as a Harrison Ford vehicle with Joe Carnahan in the director chair. The character Neeson plays is Matt Scudder, a role previously handled by Jeff Bridges in the movie EIGHT MILLION WAYS TO DIE – in some ways I would have loved to see Bridges reprise the character here as an older man… but not to worry, Neeson doesn’t disappoint.

The story opens in 1991, with Detective Matt Scudder (Neeson) stopping by a local bar to have his usual coffee with a few side shots. Some thugs enter and kill the bartender, and Scudder chases them down. We don’t see why at first, but this experience changes him dramatically, and as we skip ahead to 1999 he is now a private detective taking whatever jobs come his way. He’s always working on staying sober, again making us wonder what exactly was the end result of his gunfight so many years ago that would lead him to quit drinking. Matt is recruited through one of the regulars in his addiction meetings to meet with a posh drug dealer named Kenny (Dan Stevens), who informs our hero that kidnappers took his wife, and despite him paying the requested ransom she would up dead in the worst way. Kenny wants these men, and wants Scudder to find them. Reluctantly, Matt takes a down payment and begins his search, only to find the two men he’s looking for aren’t new to this, and they former professional connections aren’t helping him complete the job any faster. With the unlikely assistance of a young boy named TJ (Brian ‘Astro’ Bradley), Scudder digs deeper and deeper into the truth, and what he finds is anything but pleasant.

Perhaps the best aspect of this film is the almost timeless quality it has. Set mostly in 1999, there are references to Y2K scares, and a cel phone here and there, but there’s a bleak and dingy tone that carries the story in a way where it could exist in almost any memorable decade. There’s also shades of noir right out of pulp novels of yesteryear that makes the experience really engaging. Neeson finds ways to humanize Scudder, without ever making him seem forced or disingenuous. It’s an honest reading of a solid character, and even the action beats feel real and far from glamorous. Dan Stevens (who with THE GUEST has two movies opening this week) also give a great cold performance as Kenny, the would be employer of our hero. He’s in some ways the worst kind of person for what he does, but we find sympathy for him regardless – a tricky character to get just right, but Stevens handles it perfectly. Also chilling and quite effective are David Harbour and Adam David Thompson as the kidnapping duo. Their actions go beyond what some audiences might expect, and their cold demeanor is the kind of thing that has you begging for their reckoning. These are two of the creepiest villains in recent cinema history. Even Brian ‘Astro’ Bradley manages to take his role of a eager kid wanting to assist the hero, and keep it from being some cliched stereotype that feels like a gimmick. Everyone brings their A-game, and the movie excels for it.

Overall the film is pretty dark, all the way up to the ending, and definitely keeping in tone with Block’s work. Director Scott Frank has crafted a movie that leaves any sense of hope at the door, and just gives you a chilling tale of murder and revenge, and violence that will stay with you for a while. It’s not a movie I’d likely want to watch again anytime soon, but I could absolutely recommend it to those in the right mindset. If you love a good detective story, and aren’t afraid of gritty and brutal stories, A WALK AMONG THE TOMBSTONES is definitely worth a look.

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