Writers: Ryan Willinger, Philip De Blasi, Ryan Engle
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
*** WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS ***
Michael MacCauley (Neeson) is not having the best of days. After ten years working as a life insurance salesman he shows up at work to find out he's lost his job, which is extremely bad timing as he's trying to work out how to finance his son's college education. Taking his usual train home, his path crosses that of the mysterious Joanna (Farmiga) who offers Michael the chance to make $100,000. Someone on the train doesn't belong, and Michael's knowledge of his fellow commuters - plus his previous job as a cop - should make him the ideal man to carry out the task...
Liam Neeson and Jaume Collet-Serra reunite for a thriller than shares more than a little of its DNA with their previous collaboration in airborne conspiracy flick Non-Stop. There's transport involved, there's a mystery to solve and Neeson plays a guy who faces a race against time to sort out the good guys from the bad. He has a very specific set of skills, skills he has acquired over a long career. Skills that make him a nightmare. He will look for them, he will find them, and he will....hold on, that's Taken.
Having said that, MacCauley does possess a very specific set of skills and having Neeson playing another pleasingly scuffed, scrappy everyman with an almost superhuman ability to step up in a crisis is like plonking down in a favourite, well-worn armchair. It's comforting, you know where you are, you know what to expect. He may get bruised and battered but arse will most definitely be kicked.
Of course, the problem with finding yourself in such recognisable territory is the complete and utter lack of surprises and if you're looking for a movie which constantly confounds your expectations The Commuter really isn't it. Like its featured method of transit, it sticks steadfastly to its tracks for the vast proportion of its running time and even when the plot finally goes off the rails we can even see that coming, entertainingly daffy though it is.
The revelation of the bad guy's identity would be a shock if it wasn't so blindingly obvious who they are from the get-go. It's made all the worse by trying to throw in someone else whose behaviour, dialogue and backstory is such a blatant piece of misdirection that there's even less doubt who's going to show up at the denouement to deliver that crucial "yes, it was me" speech. And you're not even a quarter of the way into it.
Then there's the potential for a complex mystery, muddied even further by a carriageful of characters, each of whom could be a killer or someone in need of protection. Surely all of that wouldn't be jettisoned in favour of a resolution which hinges on just one piece of observation. And what of MacCauley's family, who we're told are in mortal danger for most of the movie and will surely die the moment he doesn't comply with his instructions? Well...
And yet, there's enjoyment to be had from The Commuter. Neeson is as watchable as ever. Vera Farmiga always elevates the proceedings and it's a shame she isn't in the movie more. Andy Nyman is good value as a fellow traveller as is Florence Pugh, continuing the "Brit playing an American" theme. She doesn't get up to any of her Lady Macbeth shenanigans, by the way.
Yes, the sudden lurch into destructive action territory is ludicrous. Yes, the climactic siege and stand-off invites a slew of "but why didn't they...?" questions. Yes, the final scene is annoyingly improbable even if it's kind of satisfying. Yes, if you start picking holes in the plot chances are it will collapse into tiny bits without an especially large amount of effort on your part. Even so, I've a feeling this will fit the bill for moviegoers looking for an undemanding flick and while there's nothing wrong with that this could have been so much more.
In the end, what I can say about The Commuter is that it's just about passable. And that's possibly the most damning criticism of all.
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