Liam Neeson continues his trend of playing tough guys in A Walk Among the Tombstones. Adapted from one of Lawrence Block’s popular mystery novels, it is the story of a former cop turned PI who is drawn into hunting down a pair of twisted murderers, not to bring them to justice, but to bring them to the surviving spouse for vengeance.
As I said, this movie is based on a mystery novel, which unfortunately means I can’t say much about the plot without giving things away, and ultimately the build up is the best part about this film. All I can say is there are multiple layers that Neeson must twist through. He has this rough demeanor act down pretty well by now, and does a great job here again. He admits during the film that he wasn’t a “clean” cop, and his morals seem fairly low as he tries to get to the bottom of this maze. However, he is struggling with the steps of AA as a former alcoholic as he goes as well, and Neeson does well conveying these personal challenges.
The movie is really good along the way. As new elements are made clear, the suspense keeps clicking up, until it feels as if you are on the edge of a deep cliff waiting for the fall. Unfortunately the constant building does not lead to a tremendous climax, and the ending is really sort of a letdown. After the terrible things the culprits have done, the only thing that would have satisfied me was if they were truly monsters, but of course, the bad guys are just bad guys, and sort of fumbly ones at that. Still, the movie as a whole is enjoyable, but ultimately only worth watching once, since its greatest element (the mystery unfurling as you go) can only be experienced the first time.
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