THE COMMUTER (2018) - Movie Review

Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Starring: Liam Neeson, Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Sam Neill, Elizabeth McGovern, Andy Nyman, Jonathan Banks
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama
Writer: Byron Willinger, Philip de Blasi, Ryan Engle
Runtime: 105 min
Rated: PG-13 for some intense action/violence, and language
Buy This Movie: Blu-ray (Amazon), DVD (Amazon), 4K Ultra HD,Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV

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Synopsis:

Insurance salesman Michael is on his daily commute home, which quickly becomes anything but routine. After being contacted by a mysterious stranger, Michael is forced to uncover the identity of a hidden passenger on the train before the last stop. As he works against the clock to solve the puzzle, he realizes a deadly plan is unfolding, and he is unwittingly caught up in a criminal conspiracy that carries life and death stakes for everyone on the train.

Review:

"The Commuter" reteams Liam Neeson with director Jaume Collet-Serra for a fourth time after previously working together on "Non-Stop", "Run All Night" and "Unknown". While not really the best work they've done, it's still a decently entertaining thriller, that defies logic and physics, sometimes both at once, and somehow manages to get away with it against all odds. You could say it plays out like "Non-Stop" on a train, and you wouldn't be wrong. The film was released during the January Dumping Ground of 2018, and failed to attract moviegoers in the US, grossing only $36.3 million against a $30 million budget. However, it did fare a lot better internationally with $83.5 million.

Neeson stars as the titular commuter, Michael MacCauley, an ex-cop and family man who is about to have a very bad day. The movie opens with a highly creative montage of his daily routine, which ends with Michael getting fired from his job as a life insurance salesman. On the train home, he is approached by a mysterious woman (Vera Farmig) who proposes a hypothetical deal. He could earn a considerable sum of money, but he would have to do something that will have consequences of the deadly kind for one of the train's passengers. Michael soon discovers there's nothing hypothetical about the proposal, and more or less unwittingly becomes entangled in a Hitchcockian conspiracy that needs to be resolved before the train reaches the end of the line.

Neeson's character is pretty dull, but the actor still turns in just enough of a watchable performance to distract the viewer from the movie's ridiculous nonsensical plot. Meanwhile, Serra is a very capable filmmaker, which he once again demonstrates with a wide array of visual tricks and fancy camerawork, including a wild faux one-take fight scene. The movie also benefits from a great supporting cast that includes Patrick Wilson, Jonathan Banks, Sam Neill, Elizabeth McGovern, Roland Moller, Ella-Rae Smith, Andy Nyman and Florence Pugh. Their characters are not very interesting, but it's a neat ensemble cast, nonetheless. Farmiga, unfortunately is entirely wasted.

As silly as the mystery might be, it's nothing compared to how badly the movie jumps the shark (or train) in the third act. The trailer already spoiled one of the film's major set pieces, the excessively CGI-ed train crash, but they didn't exactly give away just how ridiculous the whole thing is, with most of the effects looking cartoonishly unrealistic, especially Neeson's digital double. Despite intended as the film's center-piece, it ends up being one of the film's worst moments. Restraint would have been greatly appreciated, because they clearly didn't have the budget to go big.

Overall, "The Commuter" is not the trainwreck it could have been, bolstered by a solid cast and an effective director, but it's better not to think about its plot too much. It's probably Neeson's last somewhat decent thriller before starring in a string of increasingly forgettable flicks that somehow still get released in theaters despite looking more like direct-to-video fodder.

SCORE: 6.5/10