Cold Pursuit

I will admit I made a bunch of Liam Neeson jokes before I saw this (starting with “I have a very particular set of skis”, and also me annoying my husband with an intense Irish “I’m Mr Plow, that’s my name, that name again is Mr Plow”). And then, yes, Liam Neeson had a racist moment and made it less funny. Never the less, I’m reviewing the art and not the artist. And this is … an unusual Liam Neeson movie. Yes, it’s still about revenge and it’s still fairly violent, but this plays more as an odd, slightly Coen-esque story that looks at the story objectively, bouncing between vengeful father and the criminal gangs who are the target of his vengeance, rather than being entirely from Neeson’s point of view – his involvement is largely to incite others to act rather than constantly being the centre of the action. This is a redo of the Swedish “In Order of Disappearance”, only this time set in Colorado, with the same director and much of the same plot beats (although part of the relocation means that a Native American gang fills in, who are treated with appropriate dignity). There’s a couple of moments that wander towards the hammy (in particular the lead villain, Viking, only lacks the mustache to twirl) and as playful snowy thrillers go this is no “Fargo, but it still is reasonably enjoyable.