A Walk Among the Tombstones

Crime mysteries are always compelling to view, because you know the law has to be upheld and at the same time, one wonders how the law can be upheld when the main characters are under such stress in order to solve the case. Films like "Zodiac", "Prisoners", the most recent "The Drop" and others are compelling because they put us in a place where we must figure out what's going on and what can be done to solve the problem without the risk of vigilantism. "A Walk Among the Tombstones" walks that tightrope along with the aforementioned films as well.

New York City, 1991. Matt Scudder (Liam Neeson) is off duty as a NYPD cop having a drink in a neighborhood bar, when three thugs walk in, scuffle with the bartender, shots break out, Scudder shoots two of them all the while a crisis happens and the scene fades.
New York City, 1999. Scudder is now an ex-NYPD cop who works as an unlicensed private investigator operating just outside the law. When Scudder reluctantly agrees to help a heroin trafficker Kenny Kristo (Dan Stevens) hunt down the men who kidnapped then brutally murdered his wife, Carrie (Razane Jammal) the PI learns that this is not the first time these men have committed this sort of twisted, psychotic crime...nor will it be the last. Blurring the lines between right and wrong, Scudder races to track the deviants, Ray and Albert (David Harbour and Adam David Thompson) through the back streets before they kill again. He enlists Kenny's pathetic, sad, drug addict brother, Peter (Boyd Holbrook) and a street-wise saavy kid, TJ (Brian 'Astro' Bradley) in order to find these guys before they succeed at yet another murder.

Others to round out the cast are Olafur Darri Olafsson as James Loogan, an eye-witness, Sebastian Roche as Yuri Landau, Liana De Laurent as Yuri's wife, Mark Consuelos as Reuben, Eric Nelsen as Howie and Laura Birn as Leila Alvarez.

This was surprisingly well directed by Scott Frank ("Lookout" '07). I say this because considering this guy is a seasoned screenwriter, first of all, they usually don't delve into the director's chair, and secondly, when they do, the results are less than impressive. And when I realized that this guy only had one theatrical film to his credit, my appreciation for this director increased even more. It was also written by Frank ("Dead Again" '91, "Little Man Tate" '91, "Malice" '93, "Get Shorty" '95, Heaven's Prisoners" '96, "Out of Sight" '98, "Minority Report" '02, "Flight of the Phoenix" '04, "The Interpreter" '05, "The Lookout" '07, "Marley & Me" '08, "The Wolverine" '13) based on the novel by Lawrence Block. As stated prior, this guy is a seasoned screenwriter, and while this was written well and most things did connect as should happen out of a screenplay, there were areas where it seemed a bit choppy and a couple of places that were not clearly spelled out. But these areas certainly weren't enough to take away the grit and suspense that this guy was obviously attempting to convey. Even though Neeson was in a role that one certainly wouldn't be surprised-- remember he did "Non-Stop", "Taken" Taken 2" and "The Grey", he was still able to capture your attention in a way that made you riveted to your seat.

Even if your taste is in the crime mystery genre, one must pay a bit sharper attention to the different nuances that are intertwined in this, lest you become confused and end up missing parts of it. Don't get me wrong, this is not a bad film, it just needed a bit more polishing to really grab you by films' end.

Out of 4 Stars: 2.5                             Rated: R                                114mins.