Cold Pursuit

Cold Pursuit

Starring Liam Neeson, Tom Bateman, William Forsythe, Laura Dern

Directed by Hans Petter Moland

The Story:
Nels Coxman (Liam Neeson) is a mild-mannered snowplow worker who allows the city of Kehoe to be available during the snowy winter months, and is awarded with the town's Citizen of the Year award.  Not long after, he discovers his only child was found dead, a victim of an apparent overdose.  Believing his son wasn't a drug user, he infiltrates the drug cartel in Denver led by psychopath Trevor "Viking" Calcote (Tom Bateman), and dispatches some of his drug dealers closest involved in his son's murder.  As his thirst for revenge strengthens, he inadvertently causes a turf war between Viking and the Ute drug lord White Bull (Tom Jackson), leading small-town cops Kim Dash (Emmy Rossum) and Gip Gipsky (John Dorman) to investigate.

The Synopsis:
"Some cause happiness wherever they go, others whenever they go."  This quote from Oscar Wilde opens the film, and what follows is easily Liam Neeson's most unique revenge action-adventure film of his career, which is saying a lot because recently all he's done is revenge action-adventure films ("Taken," "Taken 2," "Taken 3," "Taken on a Plane," "Taken on a Train," etc.).  "Cold Pursuit" - also known in my mind as "Taken in the Snow" - amps up Neeson's vengeance-fueled escapades and introduces a deeply dark comedic tone that leaves the viewer in bewilderment - is it supposed to be a self-defecating look at Neeson's action films, or is it inadvertently comedic when it's not supposed to?

I prefer to go with the first, as there's several laugh-out-loud moments in this dark film, and director Hans Petter Moland (who also directed the Norwegian film it's based off of - in case you didn't know, it's actually an American remake) knowingly offers several winks to the audience letting us know he's in on the joke, which allows us to really sit back and enjoy the total insanity that follows.

Neeson plays Nels, a common snowplow worker who finds that his only child (played by his real-life son Michael Richardson) died in an apparent drug overdose.  Knowing his son never did drugs, he investigates and finds his son was murdered by local drug lord Viking, and sets out to avenge his son's death.  This would've been the simple story, but this goes way beyond a father's thirst for vengeance - at least one father's thirst for vengeance - and somehow tries to blend family dramas with over-the-top violence and humor, but sadly attempts to put too many hats in the game, resulting in each story being rather undone and surface level.

First there's Neeson's character, who never really seems to mourn his son's death.  Even when he identifies the body, he never shows any signs of emotion, unlike his wife, and throughout the film he never really offers anything other than his "I'm Liam Neeson in another vengeance movie" look.  Laura Dern, somehow, plays his longsuffering wife, who immediately leaves him after their son's death and is never heard from again - I don't know why they'd bring on such a big name to literally have ten lines and disappear within the first twenty minutes, but I'm also not the casting director.  He sets out to kill those who killed his son, after gaining intel from his brother, who's pretty much a hitman for Viking's corporation.  For Neeson, it seemed like he was just out to clean out some trash, and his son's death grew more and more unimportant to the story - but then things happen outside of Nels' control, which inadvertently helps him in his quest without him trying to.  There was an episode of "Archer" where Lana utters, "wow, that accidentally worked," and that's how I feel Neeson's character felt through most of this film.

Second there's Viking, who is played to psychopathic brilliance by Tom Bateman, who relishes in violence and revenge, but also is a doting father who doesn't allow his son to eat anything unhealthy, and who believes "Lord of the Flies" is a great instructional manual for life.  His character is, surprisingly, the most well-written, giving some of the best lines and also ones that no one dares speak in today's vernacular, especially when he talks about the rival drug lords - the Ute Native Americans.

Third there's White Bull, the leader of the Ute Native American drug cartel.  He becomes involved when Viking kills one of his own believing he's the one who killed his men (surprise: it was actually Nels, who isn't even an afterthought in Viking's mind), and is the surprising saving grace in Nels' thirst for revenge - basically he and his group does all of the dirty work without Nels even knowing it.

Finally we get the Keystone Kehoe cops, played by Emmy Rossum and John Dorman.  They play the typical bumbling cops who remain two steps behind everyone else, and whose presence in the film is bewildering to me - neither offer anything to the main (or many side) stories, and could've been cut to allow the other stories to get more breathing room.

As it is, the film is a great vengeance film with bloody violence and dark humor, but it's hindered by having too many plots and characters, leaving everyone without a lot to work with in a deeper level, which would've made this Neeson's best action film since the first "Taken."

The Summary:
While trying to juggle too many balls at once, director Hans Petter Moland drops his balls of character development in favor of dark humor and violence, resulting in a decent vengeance film but lacks the emotional depth that could've made it spectacular.

The Score: B+