The Commuter
An Insurance Salesman/Ex-Cop is caught up in a criminal conspiracy during his daily commute home.
Cast
Liam Neeson – Michael
Vera Farmiga – Joanna
Jonathan Banks – Walt
Patrick Wilson – Det. Lt. Alex Murphy
Sam Neill – Captain David Hawthorne
Elizabeth McGovern – Karen MacCauley
Killian Scott – FBI Agent Dylan
Unbearable Commute
Have you ever experienced the commute from Hell? Ever been sat on a train for literally hours as it goes nowhere? Aching with boredom and swearing at the driver each time he makes a tannoy announcement? Vowing to NEVER ride with that particular train operator again?
Sitting through this 103-minute movie would be a worse experience.
Ok, I exaggerated – slightly. But in all honesty, The Commuter has to be one of THE WORST pieces of film I have ever turned up at the cinema for. I had seen the trailer prior to watching it which painted a slick pic of a man’s thrilling but puzzling train journey, and although my immediate assumption was along the lines of, ‘huh. Neeson in a leather jacket, gun in one hand mobile phone in the other, frowning as he delivers his script and trying to sound intriguing’ – what I got was:
Neeson in a leather jacket, gun in one hand mobile phone in the other, frowning as he delivered his script whilst trying to sound intriguing.
That’s right folks – you get what you’ve always gotten from Mr. Neeson; typecast tight situation action movie hero. Nothing changes there, and I refuse to delve into the issue surrounding this (refer to other reviews of mine involving him). But what really did piss me off was the overall concept of The Commuter, how the story evolved, and where it lead the main characters to. The whole lot was eventful yet incredibly uneventful at the same time. And the “finale” was just shocking.
This movie becomes ‘talky’ very quickly, with Farmega paving the way to some incredibly dull dialogue between Michael and various people he meets along.. the.. train (I would say along the way, but the entire thing is confined to the interior of a standard passenger commuter train at rush hour). So she kicks it off by sitting down, and striking up a conversation with him. What she has to say is actually intriguing, so The Commuter does well here laying down the story’s bizarre feel instantly. But then it spirals into cryptic panic – and that spirals into a situation dull as arse – as the main man does what he usually does in movies, jumping from one dangerous platform to another in a suit whilst grumbling at people around him to stay calm. It really isn’t anything you haven’t seen before from Neeson. And the ending scene is just as mundane.
I refuse to discuss this movie any further.
If you decide to spend money on The Commuter in any way, you are a bloody fool. Harsh but true.
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