The Commuter is the fourth collaboration between director Jaume Collet-Serra and Academy Award nominated actor, Liam Neeson. In the passed years Neeson has morphed himself into a Tom Cruise like action hero with films like Taken and the previous collabs with Collet-Serra (Unknown, Non-Stop and Run all Night). This film has an interesting subject matter, insurance salesman Michael MacCauley (Liam Neeson) rides in and out via train every day for the past 10 years. When he falls into financial difficulties, he is offered a tempting task. On his ride home, he is approached by a mysterious woman (Vera Farmiga) to find a person that doesn't belong on this train, if he finds set person he will receive 100,000 dollars. I found the initial premise to be incredibly interesting as it sets up a moral dilemma. The woman makes it very clear that set person Michael has to find may receive harm, but this won't have to affect Michael. A dilemma such as this, we have seen many times before including that of Hitchcock's filmography. However the film still manages to engage the audience through a great performance by Liam Neeson. He plays the quintessential American citizen, living in a instabil world post the Wall Street crash of 2008. His initial reaction is believable and causes the audience to think whether they would do the same. Much of the camera work is also excellent, many different movements and tricks give this film a psychological edge. For example the famous vertigo effect is implemented very well into the movie. However as the film progresses, I found to be less and less invested. The film unfortunately fell into the same action movie tropes we knew from the last collaborations Neeson has done with the director. The film is still enjoyable for it, especially if you liked the previous films they have done together. In conclusion, the Commuter is an incredibly enjoyable thriller that unfortunately morphs into this action movie formula too quick. I wanted to see more of the moral dilemma and the psychological effects it has on Michael. Neeson gives a terrific performance, making the portrayal of an everyday man caught in this situation realistic and fun. However after about 1/3 into the film, it betrays this thriller tone and turns into a generic action movie, which still has enjoyable moments but overall left much to be desired.
Review of The Commuter
