Review of The Commuter (2018) by James R — 12 Jan 2019

Not Liam Neeson's best, but I gotta say I was still entertained overall. The Commuter is what seems like the 100th time Neeson has worked with directed Jaume Collet-Serra. I'm kidding it's just the fourth since they've worked on Unknown (2011), Non-Stop (2014), Run All Night (2015) all together.

I mention these because all those movies are good, but not great just like The Commuter. Michael MacCauley has just been fired from his job, so he's calling it a day and headed home on the train. While on the train he meets a mysterious lady named Joanna (Vera Farmiga) who tells Michael that there's $25k hidden in the bathroom and if he finds a person with a bag that her group is looking for he will get paid out a remaining sum of $75K.

Michael thinks this is a joke until he finds the money. Joanna calls him on a phone telling Michael that they are watching him. Soon enough it's up to Michael to find out what's going on, find the mysterious person on the train and also evade the Police who have been alerted to his chaotic mannerisms (he didn't take too well to this all).

There's a bit more to the movie, but I just wanted to give a little bare bones plot there. The movie works for the most part. It damn near nails a sort of Hitchcock like feel to the mystery surrounding everything and when there's action it' very tense.

I will say where the movie falters is the "twist" is very easy to spot. Once again maybe I watch too many movies, but man I picked it up super quick on what was going on and who was behind it all.

I even figured out who the person was he was looking for early on too. Also the last third of the movie gets a little too sloppy for me. Michael takes charge and the remaining people on the train kinda just roll with it.

Seemed kinda crazy to me since some actions before that suggest people would not trust this dude at all. Neeson once again is very much the Neeson of the last ten years, gruff, strong and likeable. Overall, you know what you're getting with this one.

It has an interesting albeit simple plot, but I recommend at least giving it a look. This is currently streaming on Amazon Prime!