Life is too short to sit through this type of grim, violent, ugly film. If you’re expecting another Liam Neeson “I WILL find you!” the twist being that this time he’s searching for his son, rather than his daughter, you’ll be not only disappointed, but perhaps discomfited that you wasted good money and a good night on a film that’s so powerfully grating. Even the presence of Ed Harris, as a sort of reformed gang boss, can’t save the picture.

The film begins with Neeson laid out and played out, flat on his back with a bullet wound, contemplating the wages of sin. The rest of the movie is a flashback to how he got there. It seems Neeson’s character “Jimmy” (must even the name be cliche?) is a washed up and disgusting drunk, formerly a ruthless hit man for Harris’s character Shawn Maguire. They’ve been committed friends since boyhood, and nothing, it seems, can break their bond, until… Their grown sons accidentally get in a tussle with fatal results. It sets off the titular all night run of violence, testosterone and and noisy car chases.

Almost everyone in this film is grimy and dirty, figuratively if not quite literally. We’re not used to taking our Liam Neeson in such despicable doses–in the Taken films, he has some charm and appeal as the doting father who has a satisfying affinity for revenge. In Run All Night he has a foul mouth and an itchy trigger finger–and those are his good qualities. Perhaps it’s the girly girl in me, and I acknowledge that these films are not made for my sort. I can’t help but wonder, though, when the smoke clears, who’s gonna pay for all that damage, and who has to break it to the mothers of the dead? The thrill is not worth the kill.

Rated R

1 Hour 54 Minutes

Run All Night review