Memory

Liam Neeson has performed in many dramatic films about revenge or assassination premises, i.e. "The Grey", "The Commuter", "Taken", and the like, so when I went to review this film, I was certainly expecting the same plotline as in his other films, however, although there were similarities with "Memory" and his other films, the fact that he not only was scrambling to unravel an assassin that went awry, he also had to contend with a memory loss issue simultaneously.

This story follows Alex Lewis (Liam Neeson), an expert assassin with a reputation for discreet precision. Caught in a moral quagmire, Alex refuses to complete a job that violates his code and must quickly hunt down and kill the people who hired him before they and FBI agents Vincent Serra (Guy Pearce), Linda Amistead (Taj Atwal) and Hugo Marquez (Harold Torres) find him first. Alex is built for revenge but, with a memory that is beginning to falter, he is forced to question his every action, blurring the line between right and wrong. 

Others to round out the cast are Monica Bellucci as Davana Sealman, Ray Stevenson as Detective Danny Mora, Stella Stocker as Maya, Ray Fearon as Gerald Nussbaum, Antonio Jaramillo as Papa Leon, Lee Boardman as Mauricio, Natalie Anderson as Maryanne Borden and Rebecca Calder as Wendy Van Camp.

This was intensely delineated by director Martin Campbell ("Sex Thief" '73, "Three for All" '75, "Criminal Law" '88, Defenseless" '91, "Golden Eye" '95, "The Mask of Zorro" '98, "Vertical Limit" 2000, "The Legend of Zorro" '05, "Casino Royale" '06, "Edge of Darkness" '10, "Green Lantern" '11, "The Foreigner" '17, "The Protege" '21) plus others, TV and a short. Obviously, this filmmaker has, not only a seasoned amount of experience, but, more to the point, he has a plethora of experience with action suspensful thrillers, this film falling into that genre. The staging and pacing in this was certainly effective,and Neeson exuded that right amount of the emotion of someone caught between his job and sickness so well that the intensity he showcased was realistic and gritty, and this is talented directing. But, considering the amazing body of work by Campbell, it should be no surprise. It was interestingly written by Dario Scardapane ("Posse" '93, "The Darkling" (TV movie) 2000, "Faceless" (TV movie) '06) plus TV and a short, based on a film "De zaak Alzheimer" by Carl Joos and Erik Van Looy, which is based on the book by Jef Geeraerts. What actually makes this interesting is that it's a film about a man who is loosing his memory, and considering that Guy Pearce who starred in Christopher Nolan's "Memento" 2000, a film about a man who has a terrible memory, so bad that he has to take Poloroid pictures in order to remember, and in this film, Neeson's Alex writes things on his arm to remember, the analogies are striking. Now,  each characters' loss of memory is for a different reason, so there is a definite differenece, however with underlying similarities. The only issue I have with this is the way it had a tendency to meander a bit in certain spots which added some confusion, however, not enough to detract from the story. 

Certainly, if you like this type of film that Neeson turns out as well as he does, this is the film for you. Was this an Oscar contender? No, undoubtedly it was not made for that reason. But, suffice it to say, it was compelling and certainly a riveting roller coaster ride we've come to expect from Neeson.

Out of 4 Stars: 3                                           Rated: R                                                    114mins.