“A Walk Among the Tombstones” was written and directed by Scott Frank based on the novel by Lawrence Block. It stars Liam Neeson, Maurice Compte, Laura Birn, David Harbour, Adam David Thompson, Dan Stevens, Eric Nelsen, Razane Jammal, Susham Bedi, Marielle Heller, and Astro.
Liam Neeson continues his Badass streak in A Walk Among the Tombstones, in which he plays private investigator/former cop Matthew Scudder, who is employed by a drug dealer whose wife has been kidnapped. The opening flashback sequence seems to promise a pulse-pounding action thriller similar to some of Neeson’s other popular films, but the film quickly reveals itself to be a fairly calm, staid mystery, with occasional bursts of visceral intensity.
The plot has quite a few twists and turns, and the initial setup is only the first in a long series of developments. By the end of the film the opening scenes seem to be almost from another film entirely. While some of these developments are thrilling, the film can be hard to follow at times. The biggest issue with A Walk Among the Tombstones is that it has a lot of individual elements that aren’t developed that well and at times seem at odds with one another. The general thrust of the story is fairly involving, however.
In addition to being a mystery, it is made clear to the audience that this is supposed to be a redemption story. While the film isn’t loaded with action, the action in it is quite good: realistically but not excessively bloody, sudden, visceral. For what it’s worth, the sound people really sell the explosiveness of gunshots in a way I can’t recall seeing in another movie. The film’s climax has some very tense, exciting moments, and the most the film up to that point has a sense of dread, the feeling that something truly sinister is lurking under the surface.
A Walk Among the Tombstones is a perfectly palatable thriller that could have perhaps been something more.
