“Cold Pursuit”

This is the latest beginning of the year action film starring Liam Neeson where he plays either a vengeful dad or a man in the wrong place at the wrong time trying to stay alive. Keep in mind, the guys is in his mid 60’s. This whole annual parade of carnage films started more than a decade ago with the very successful “Taken” and he hasn’t stopped since. Many of these movies have been fun and quite good (Taken, The Grey, Unknown) and some have been quite awful & forgettable (Taken 2 & 3, Nonstop & The Commuter). But he knows what works and for that, I give him credit. “Cold Pursuit” feels a bit different. The formula is there and the premise is familiar, but the style is more artsy and it’s a bit more lighthearted despite a death toll which rises by the frame. The bad guys are something out of a cartoon including an overprotective crazy dad who is also campaigning for world’s worst father at the same time. My favorite aspect of the movie is that Liam Neeson’s job is to be the town snow plower and he takes that job very seriously. I love how he gushes over all fleet of plows that he gets to drive. The scenery is also quite beautiful. This movie drags and the story is muddled. I never fully understood who these bad guys were. Laura Dern seems wasted in her role as Neeson’s wife and you never see her again after the first 15 minutes or so. I didn’t mind Cold Pursuit as there are worse movies to sit through, but I felt the script and story could’ve been tighter and the artsy style felt out of place. It’s forgettable, but not too bad. (**)