The Commuter

The former cop and insurance agent Michael MacCauley (Liam Neeson) loses his job when the company where he works is downsizing. He goes to a bar where he meets his former partner and friend Alex Murphy (Patrick Wilson) and tells that he has not told the news to his wife Karen (Elizabeth McGovern). While commuting home, a mysterious woman called Joanna (Vera Farmiga) offers a game to Michael where he would locate a commuter in the train and receive a large amount. When Michael finds the money hidden in a wagon, the woman informs that he has accepted the offer and need to find the person in a few moments; otherwise his beloved family will suffer the consequences. What will Michael do?

"The Commuter" is another entertaining Liam Neeson´s action film. The unlikely story has promising beginning but the conclusion is absurd and funny. Despite the clichés, the non-stop action does not let the viewer think and in the end, "The Commuter" is a decent film. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "O Passageiro" ("The Passenger")

SPOILER: The Commuter delivers what it promises, a Liam Neeson action movie that relies on tension and a little bit of mystery to fill out its runtime. It begins very well with minimal exposition for the set up, using images or short conversations to explain what most movies would carve out five minutes of dialogue for. From there it evolves more like a mystery with an ordinary man in an extraordinary situation searching for someone on the train. As it enters the third act, it goes full action movie with explosions, fight scenes, and massive stakes. While this was to be expected from Jaume Collet-Serra, it undermines what had been a more contained thriller up to that point.

It is shot well enough and uses an ensemble cast well, but no one besides Liam Neeson really has too much to do. Vera Farmiga and Jonathan Banks are both talented actors that are really underutilized. All in all, The Commuter is another Liam Neeson action movie that could be best described as "Nonstop on a train."

There are certain actors in Hollywood that are so one-dimensional, but they play that one-dimension spot on. Liam Neeson is one of those guys. Another example is Jason Statham. Their roles are all the same, scripts slightly tweaked, yet the movie passes of as decent-to-good almost every time (except for the Taken sequels, but that isn't on Liam).

Bottom line is, it's basically the movie non-stop, but on a commute instead of a plane. Liam Neeson plasy his same old self and plays his usual one-dimensional badass role. He did his job once again. This movie will bring in okay-enough numbers, and we will be presented with Liam Neeson's next challenge in about another year.

Same old, decent-enough action movie.

6/10

Thought-provoking, indeed. I like how the suspense and drama blend so nicely together. And I also appreciate how the message of it is being transmitted to the audience, in a "surreal" way, I must say. You may never know when an ordinary day may become an unordinary & extraordinary one. To me, it's simply fabulous and it definitely caught my attention since the beginning. And that old wolf who's playing the main character didn't lose his golden acting skills, either :).

If you've seen one Neeson film, you've probably seen them all. Despite having already mastered the art of playing the grizzled, independant tough-guy, Neeson is back with The Commuter, in which he plays an unsuspecting ... well ... commuter, who is drawn into a criminal conspiracy which could kill everyone on-board.

It's a familiar sounding plot, but it's one that Neeson excels in, in fact, he may be too good at it by now. With all that said, The Commuter, much like Taken, Taken 2, Taken 3, Non-Stop, A Walk Among the Tombstones, Run All Night and Schindlers List, is another fun Neeson film which you'll probably enjoy much more than you'd be willing to admit.