108. Cold Pursuit; movie review

COLD PURSUIT
Cert 15
119 mins
BBFC advice: Contains strong violence

Oh, no, not another Liam Neeson revenge movie, I thought as I glanced the trailer of Cold Pursuit.
Thankfully, I can report that Hans Petter Moland's film has much more in common with comedy thriller In Bruges than Neeson's awful Taken franchise.
True, there is a lot of violence in Cold Pursuit but there is also a chunk of fun and a smart script, played out with gusto by a fine cast in bleak surroundings.
Neeson plays Nels Coxman, a local hero whose snow plough clears the only route into a small mountainside town.
Nels is a quiet man who gets on with his job and shows little emotion, even to his wife (Laura Dern).
On the face of it, his low-key reaction to the death of his son (Micheál Richardson) from a heroin overdose is typical of the man.
But, beneath the surface, he doesn't believe that his boy was, in his word "a druggie" and goes secretly in search for answers and ultimately revenge on those responsible.
In his path, either as obstacles or as support, are characters so quirky that they would not have been out of place in Twin Peaks.
To add to the strangeness is that they all have nicknames, even his brother (William Forsythe), who is called Wingman 'after the character in Top Gun'.
The most memorable is Viking (Tom Bateman) - an unhinged crimelord who lives in a fancy open-plan house and is obsessed with the eating habits of his young son.
He is laughably rash and the consequence of his hurried early judgements are that he makes enemies even quicker than the average shoot-from-the-hip criminal.
Moland has obviously given deep thought into how to avoid Cold Pursuit becoming laced with cliches.
His effort has been worth it because, while it is not one of the films of the year, it is certainly memorable.
This is down to neat little nuances such as an in memoriam notice, complete with cross, each time a character is bumped off (it happens a lot!).
I found Cold Pursuit's combination potent but it has not scored big with a box office because audiences may have been put off Neeson by his pre-release claim of wanting to kill a black man when a friend was raped 30 years ago.
The controversy which he stirred seems to have backfired on a movie which might have otherwise done well.

Reasons to watch: In Bruges-style comedy thriller
Reasons to avoid: Might be a tad too surreal for some

Laughs: Four
Jumps: None
Vomit: Yes
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 7.5/10

Did you know? Before deciding to pursue acting professionally, Neeson enrolled in Queen's University Belfast and studied physics and computer science.


The final word. Hans Petter Moland: "I grew up loving Billy Wilder movies. I loved their darkness and their gallows humour, that great balance between the two. So, when I was offered the chance to remake In Order Of Disappearance, I took it.”

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