Tombstones

A Walk among the Tombstones is a Hollywood thriller film directed by Scott Frank, produced by Danny DeVito, Michael Shamberg, Stacey Sher, Tobin Armbrust, Brian Oliver and is based on the novel, A Walk among the Tombstones by Lawrence Block.

The film is set a decade in the past when Matthew Scudder is a former cop and an alcoholic who always pays the bills as a private investigator. A drug dealer comes to him to give him his case. He asks him to find his wife’s killers. Matthew finds out that these perpetrators are depraved serial sex offenders and murderers.

Liam Neelson does his job with the same grit and determination that he did for his role in Taken. This film pattern follows a pattern where you recognize some Neeson’s recent work but there are also many aspects that make this film refreshing with interesting turns. For starters, few shots are done. Scudder preferred the usage of firearm as a last resort.

He still uses pay phones and is wary of new fangled gadgets. Kenny’s story about his wife’s murder has Scudder committed to his case. While doing some research in a library, he becomes a friend of a homeless boy TJ whom he had to accept as his helper in his investigations. You’ll know why Scudder quit his police force and alcohol after an encounter outside a bar which led to an accident of a bystander girl and she died.

Grey and brown visual tones are used here so as to signify morally ambiguous choices Scudder needs to find and apprehend the perpetrators Albert and Ray. These streets are so mean and the tone is that of no – nonsense. Neeson’s character is inherently solid and so likeable while funny at times. Most of the characters are really appreciable except the bad guys who seem random and Scudder gets the upper hand over them psychologically and that too so easily.

Verdict: This film is yet another classic Liam Neeson and like a nice thriller film, it’s unpredictable and makes you keep on guessing it till the very end.