Written for the screen and directed by the uber-talented Scott Frank, A Walk Among the Tombstones is an uncommonly thoughtful exploration of the darkness lurking along the violent fringes of our society.
Liam Neeson stars as Matt Scudder, a semi-washed up private eye who left the NYC police force after a terrible tragedy and who takes on a chilling case that he knows he probably should leave alone.
It seems that two psychopaths are kidnapping the wives and loved ones of the city’s major drug traffickers.
Even when they get the desired ransom, they kill (in graphic detail) their victim.
A heroin trafficker can’t go to the cops so what are you supposed to do if you live your life outside what’s socially acceptable, and then something like that happens to you?
I love how murky and unrelentingly nasty this film was; it has shades of Prisoners and The Silence of the Lambs to it.
Even if it’s not on that level, it’s a thoroughly absorbing mystery.
The film has some fantastic shoot-outs and all sorts of grisly violence that feels appropriate for the milieu…
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The film wouldn’t have been as effective had the script not taken its time to set up so many smartly-plotted moving pieces.
You’re never too sure how it’s all going to play out.
Despite probably knowing in the back of your head that the lead will make it through to the end. But does he?
I’ll leave that for you to discover.
The exceedingly stylish cinematography is courtesy of Mihai Malaimare Jr.
The ace shooter behind Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master. Also the double whammy of Twixt and Tetro for Francis Ford Coppola.
Appearing as if it were lensed on film as opposed to the current digital standard. There’s a sense of uncommon expressiveness to the imagery that I loved.
With simple camera set-ups yielding lots of information, and a surreal quality to the climactic, cemetery-set gun battle, which is intriguingly edited and presented.
This one is tough stuff but very much worth watching.
Review by Nick Clement
Summary
Fully compelling, morally and thematically layered with an obsession on the gray areas of life, and totally disturbing to the core.
A Walk Among the Tombstones deserved way better than the tepid U.S. box office response and mixed critical response that it received.
It’s shocking how excellent this movie is, and how it came and went without any hype.
