Cold Pursuit (2019)

Review

119min

Genre:       Action, Crime, Thriller

Director:    Hans Petter Moland

Cast:         Liam Neeson, Laura Dern, Tom Bateman…and more

Writers:     Frank Baldwin and Kim Fupz Aakeson

-Synopsis-

When an unassuming and dedicated local snowplow driver’s son is brutally murdered by a Colorado druglord, he discovers a talent for cold-blooded revenge, destroying what’s left of his family and inadvertently starting a local crime war—in this English language remake of 2014 Scandinavian hit ‘In Order of Disappearance’.

For an entire generation Liam Neeson is synonymous with gritty action thrillers, usually involving revenge or street justice, having re-invented himself with the ‘Taken’ series and other films of varying quality—but even before seemingly committing career suicide by media, he had already flirted with calling time on his exploits as an action hero. Now amid all the controversy and whether by choice or not, the imposing Irishman gives us potentially his last leading man action hurrah, teaming up with Norwegian director Hans Petter Moland—who remakes his own 2014 Scandinavian film ‘Kraftidioten’ for an English-speaking audience—to bring us a darkly comical and graphic tale of revenge with a moral temperature to match the setting . . . and with decidedly mixed results.

Neeson stars as upstanding local citizen ‘Nels Coxman’, keeping the roads clear of snow around the fictional Colorado ski town of Kehoe and living the quiet life with wife ‘Grace’ (Laura Dern) and their son ‘Kyle’ (Micheál Richardson). But his life is turned upside down by the mysterious murder of his only boy, as he unravels the hierarchy of a local drug syndicate suspected of being involved, secretively picking them off one by one on his way to vicious top dog ‘Viking’ (Tom Bateman), himself destined for a showdown with rival Native American druglord ‘White Bull’ (Tom Jackson) on the windswept slopes of rural Colorado.

When it comes to what we think of in terms of a Liam Neeson revenge action/thriller, ‘Cold Pursuit’ is something of a departure, and it isn’t the avenging angel, ass-kicker vehicle you might expect. Instead Moland dials down the non-stop high octane action, highly physical fight scenes and extensive shootouts, drip-feeding us small doses of all those elements mixed with graphic violence and black humour, while weaving together a more subtle momentum -building narrative focused on character, before exploding in a final crescendo.

The problem is, none of those characters are particularly compelling or memorable. Neeson is set up at the centre of things as the film’s straight man, surrounded by a host of quirky but cold-blooded criminals, and although he does his best and is solid enough, there’s neither enough introspection or gravitas in the role to elicit real empathy, nor enough menace and grit to totally command your attention.

Meanwhile the film’s criminal element provides the narrative colour through a spectrum of idiosyncratic amoral gangsters, who blend mundane day-to-day life with brutality to comedic effect, personified by the film’s lead druglord and antagonist ‘Viking’ played by British actor Tom Bateman—who does his best to bring an over-the-top, theatrical American psycopath to life, but tries too hard and ultimately stumbles. Moland and screenwriter Frank Baldwin also trade the dynamic of local Norwegian dealers versus Serbian immigrant gangsters of the original film for American traffickers versus Native American rivals, giving the film a different cultural dimension and making it somewhat of a Native American lament for a land lost . . . but done in rather ham-fisted fashion.

One element of ‘Cold Pursuit’ which is not at all compromised or underwhelming is its visual style, with cinematographer Philip Øgaard vividly capturing the cold unforgiving beauty of the mountainside landscapes and elements which play such a key role in the narrative, and with western Canada seamlessly doubling for northern Colorado—all of which makes for some truly entertaining and creative dispatching of ruthless criminals.

Hans Petter Moland is clearly inspired (for both versions) by the likes of Quentin Tarantino, the Coen Brothers and other dynamic indie film giants who expertly blend beautifully realised and quirky characters with intricate and unflinching narratives. But cold pursuit falls well short of those levels, and there just isn’t the narrative finesse, creativity or energy levels required here, and for a film which postures as a meditation on the folly of revenge, it sure does go about it in a counter-intuitive and unconvincing way.

Ultimately this is a film that shines too sporadically to make an impact, morally as cold as its setting and too inconsistent in terms of its black humour and graphic action to make a dent in our cinematic memories, but stylish and entertaining enough to qualify as a solid English-language remake over which to kill a couple of hours—but highly disappointing if it ends up being the film which curtailed a storied acting career.

The Bottom Line…

An uneven and darkly comical revenge thriller which sits innocuously between genres and fails to trouble the ranks of the films and fimmakers which inspired it, ‘Cold Pursuit’ is ultimately a solid but unspectacular remake of his own film from Hans Petter Moland, proving a violent character piece which entertains but doesn’t leave a lasting mark on the audience . . . but rather a PR stain on its star which might be difficult to scrub off.

Similar films you may like (Home Video)

Fargo (1996)

When an unassuming Minnesota car dealer hatches a plan to have his wife kidnapped for ransom money, his ill-conceived scheme violently falls apart when a couple of seedy henchmen bungle the job, and a persistent and pregnant local policewoman gets on the case—in this blackly comical, modern classic indie crime drama from the Coen Brothers.

Directed by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen and starring William H. Macy, Frances McDormand and Steve Buscemi among others.

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