Set in 1999 during the prelude to the potential social upheaval associated to the Y2k bug, Scott Frank's murder mystery A Walk Among the Tombstones concerns the investigation carried out by unlicensed private investigator and former cop Matt Scuder (Liam Neeson) for Kenny Kristo (Dan Stevens), a rich drug trafficker. Kristo’s wife was abducted and sliced into pieces by two unknown demented psycho-killers (Adam Davis Thompson and David Harbour), who pretend to be DEA agents.
In turn, there will be more grisly killings targeted at wives and daughters of other drug traffickers. So far, nothing new under the sun, and yet with a richly developed script this material can give way to a decent genre piece.
Which is not the case here. And because of a number of very simple reasons.
Firstly, while the film’s setup is far from intriguing and the initial murder mystery has enough mildly appealing subplots, once the investigation unfolds and the truth beings to surface surprisingly early in the film, then you can see the rest of the plot coming from a mile away. All you witness is the execution of a series of events that fail to be gripping because the characters are lazily underwritten.
As an example, it would have been nice to know what drives the mean criminals to slaughter their prey, even if it was only for sick fun or some kind of moralistic mission.
However, in this movie, mentally troubled psycho killers perform actions because the script tells them to do so.
They are not even individualized, they are just a depraved duo.Then there’s the kid element, another trite idea, never a fleshed out character.
His name is TJ (Brian Bradley), a homeless and resourceful black teen with sickle cell anemia and a penchant for pulp novels, an admirer of Sam Spade and Phillip Marlowe, rough looking on the outside and yet sensitive and frail for those who care to look close enough — like Scudder, who meets him at a public library where his computer skills prove helpful to further the investigation. TJ is also meant to provide the gravity and emotional side to the story — otherwise devoid of two essential components: pathos and suspense.
Finally, TJ will also indirectly give Scudder the chance to redeem himself for an involuntary tragedy he caused. It resulted in the death of a seven-year-old girl, made him quit the police force and give up on drinking as well.
Alcoholism is too unconvincingly tossed into the mix, with enlightening big meanings extrapolated from the AA's 12-step programme.
By the way, Liam Neeson plays the alcoholic cop with a dark past in quite a mechanical manner, a bored and boring character. In short: A Walk Among Tombstones is nothing but a cliché-ridden detective story. In spite of its attention-grabbing introduction and some well performed directorial bits, it goes nowhere fast. And to think that Scott Frank penned the imaginative script of Spielberg's Minority Report.
PRODUCTION NOTES
A Walk Among the Tombstones / Caminando entre tumbas. (US, 2014). Written and directed by: Scott Frank. With: Liam Neeson, Dan Stevens, Brian “Astro” Bradley, David Harbour, Adam Davis Thompson, Boyd Holbrook. Cinematography : Mihai Malaimare Jr. Editing: Jill Savitt. Music: Carlos Rafael Rivera. Produced by Tobin Armbrust, Danny De Vito, Kate Bacon. Distributed by: Buena Vista. NC16 Running time: 110 minutes.
