I saw A Walk Among The Tombstones, and found it really interesting. It is a murder mystery where Liam Neeson plays an unlicensed alcoholic private detective finding criminals who kidnap drug dealers' wives for ransom money. It is set in 1990s New York City, and really had this gritty, dark vibe to it that I liked. It reminded me of Michael Mann's movies from the 80's, or Maniac Cop, or any 1980s/1990s movie that showed New York City as being dangerous and grim. For most of the movie, it was quiet and took its time, as Neeson as Matthew Scudder tracks criminals through the underbelly of NYC, encountering shady business and getting leads from a homeless teenager and a drug addicted war veteran.
I appreciated that the movie didn't linger too long on the women who were kidnapped, avoiding any kind of torture porn voyeurism. However, this isn't a movie to see if you don't want to see women being tortured and mutilated.
It also had a cast of unknowns aside from Neeson, which was interesting to see less-familiar faces rounding out the characters. I was really impressed by Boyd Holbrook as the druggie veteran, DanStevens as the drug dealer who hires Scudder for revenge, and Brian Bradley,who shone with a lot of charisma as the homeless teen.
I have noticed that Liam Neeson has been doing more gritty action/thriller movies over the past five years or so (though when checking his filmography I saw that he has done lighter movies like The A-Team and The Lego Movie). It is an interesting turn in his career that now he's becoming Charles Bronson in his movies instead of a romantic hero like when he was younger. He fits into these movies well, it's just an interesting stage in his career.
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