THE COMMUTER (2018) MOVIE NEWS & REVIEW

the commuter (2018) movie

Genre              |   Action Thriller

Classification   |   M

Running time   |   104 minutes

Released         |   18 January 2018

cast

​Liam Neeson ... Michael McCauley
Vera Farmiga ... Joanna
Sam Neill
Patrick Wilson
​Jonathan Banks

director

​Jaume Collet-Serra

writer

​Byron Willinger ... (story by) &
Philip de Blasi ... (story by)
 
Byron Willinger ... (screenplay by) &
Philip de Blasi ... (screenplay by) and
Ryan Engle ... (screenplay by)

cinematographer

Paul Cameron ​

music

Roque Baños

film editor

Nicolas De Toth ​

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box office result

Worldwide             $98,756,421  

Australia                 $​2,475,016

North America       $35,977,441

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the best dialogue

Michael MacCauley: What have you done to my wife and son?

Joanna: It doesn't have to end this way. Think about Karen, Danny...
Michael MacCauley: Don't you dare mention their names!

Gwen: This train's freaking me out.

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THE COMMUTER (2018) MOVIE IMAGES

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Posters

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Posters

THE COMMUTER (2018) STORY SYNOPSIS

​In this action-packed thriller, Liam Neeson plays an insurance salesman, Michael, on his daily commute home, which quickly becomes anything but routine. After being contacted by a mysterious stranger, Michael is forced to uncover the identity of a hidden passenger on his train before the last stop. As he works against the clock to solve the puzzle, he realizes a deadly plan is unfolding and is unwittingly caught up in a criminal conspiracy. One that carries life and death stakes for himself and his fellow passengers.

THE COMMUTER (2018) MOVIE REVIEW

Reviewed by Mark Geraghty   |   Review date 18 January 2018
Pop ​Movee Rating ⭐⭐½

The Liam Neeson Action sub-genre is awesome! There, it had to be said. Now that it’s been over and done with, let’s move to the review… The Commuter is not the best Neeson-Action-Sub-genre movie. In spite of the great talent assembled to support the Irishman AND in spite of the presence of accomplished Action Director Jaume Collett-Serra, The Commuter is much like the train ride it emulates; a stop start affair with a few interesting bits along the way, but mostly the same old scenery you’ve seen before. Neeson works hard to give the audience something to cheer about, but talented Co-stars such as Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Jonathan Banks and Sam Neill are wasted in story that fails to coalesce into a substantive whole, much like an old tapestry that’s one thread away from being pulled apart at the seams!

The Commuter starts off in quite a clever fashion, as the passage of time is played out in concert with the film’s opening credits. The viewer gets some sense of who Neeson’s Michael MacCauley is, as he and his family face “Modern Day” “Middle Class” challenges, like which University MacCauley’s son should go to or the pressures of managing a household, the likes of which his wife has to face. These are issues that confront Middle America and, to be brutally honest, they are so mundane that the film’s opening few minutes give pause to the viewer to seriously consider whether The Commuter will go anywhere. This opening sequence would have been topped off nicely with a scene of MacCauley doing his tax return, but someone must have reminded Collett-Serra they were making an ACTION movie. MacCauley escapes the suburbs, via his Monday-to-Friday train commute, and is deposited in the heart of New York.

Unfortunately for Michael MacCauley, he’s on the receiving end of some very bad news at the start of a very bad day. Before he heads home to contemplate his future, MacCauley stops off for a drink with his old work colleague “Murph”, played by The Conjuring universe leading man Patrick Wilson. It’s at this point the viewer is more than entitled to do a bit of a head scratch when it’s revealed that Neeson’s character is an ex-New York Policeman. Wait a minute! He was an Insurance Salesman a couple of minutes ago, but now he’s been in the Police Force… Oh, that’s right, the rest of the movie requires someone who’s had experience at close range hand-to-hand combat, knows how to shoot a weapon with lethal precision, is still physically able to do things that a fit person half their age would struggle with and does it all like its second nature! It’s the ambition of the Neeson-Action-sub-genre that viewers should admire. Like the Taken films that served as the launching pad for this part of Neeson’s career, The Commuter is happy to make the outside look like a mild-mannered 60 year old, but have him endure more punishment than a Schwarzenegger Terminator unit!

Once the jumble of plot and backstory have been moved into position, Screenwriters Byron Willinger, Philip de Blasi and Ryan Engle spring their trap! MacCauley is lured into criminal intrigue when he is approached by “Joanna”, played by the other half of The Conjuring universe screen team, the beautiful Vera Farmiga. Joanna offers Michael the opportunity to make $100,000 for doing one simple thing… In most people’s minds, a “simple thing” is going up to a stranger and saying “Hello” or greeting everyone you meet as you walk down the street, but this is a movie, so the “simple thing” is not that simple. Joanna tells Michael he can earn the $100K by identifying a passenger who’s not meant to be on his train, find out what’s in their bag and - then - place a GPS tracker on them! 

​The film’s running time is only 95 minutes, but, form the point where MacCauley is tasked with his $100K payday, the film feels like its all padding. One of the main problems is the setting. There’s only so much action you can do inside a train carriage before it starts to feel monotonous. By the Third Act, it’s clear that the story has written itself into a corner. The writers try a number of tricks, but MacCauley’s wishy-washy characterization and the all-too-familiar “He’s the bad guy!... No, he’s the bad guy” schtick make The Commuter a hard watch.You can’t go past Liam Neeson for this type of movie. He’s become his own movie genre through his career reinvention from dramatic thespian to action movie star. Not even his presence can lift The Commuter to a level that would be considered a pass for this type of film. Not even Action movie editing specialist Nicholas De Toth can salvage enough material to piece together a film that has narrative flow or pacing. Neeson’s co-stars get short shrift form the script, so it’s a case of being a really big Liam Neeson fan in order to buy a ticket for this particular ride!

THE COMMUTER (2018) USEFUL LINKS

​The Commuter (2018) - IMDb
​The Commuter (film) - Wikipedia
​The Commuter (2018) - Rotten Tomatoes

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