Non-Stop (B or 3/4 stars)
Liam Neeson in a suspense thriller ... must be February!! Taken, Unknown, The Grey ... all February Neeson films. And now we have 'Non-Stop' (directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, who also directed Unknown). World-weary Bill Marks (Neeson) is a battered, grizzled, alcoholic U.S. Air Marshal assigned to work a transatlantic British flight from NYC to London. It's cold, gray, & generally miserable outside. Sighing with depressed resignation, Bill trapses through the vast airport, profiling potential terrorists before sitting down in his aisle seat next to quirkily flirtatious Jen Summers (Julianne Moore), who's determined to sit near the window {but why?}. Shortly after takeoff, Marks' cell phone sends him a string of threatening anonymous text messages. They seem to be coming from someone onboard. And the person(s) is demanding $150,000,000 be deposited into a particular offshore bank or else someone will die on the plane every 20 minutes.
Sneaking off to smoke in the lavatory, Marks initially suspects/hopes that the texts are a joke concocted by a fellow Air Marshal onboard ... but that's not the case. Before long, the body count begins to mount. Trusting only Jen & the 2 flight attendants – Nancy (Michelle Dockery, Lady Mary on Downton Abbey) & Gwen (Lupita Nyongo, Academy Award winner now for 12 Years a Slave) – Marks tries to narrow the list of suspects. 1) There's a suspicious-looking Middle Eastern doctor. 2) A shifty-eyed bald man (Corey Stoll). 3) An ill-tempered NYPD cop. 4) a black computer specialist. 5) An elderly lady. 6) a schoolteacher. 7) Heck ... stewardess Nancy, her co-pilot boyfriend, the pilot, & even Jen are among the very viable suspects.
Red herrings abound as each & every one of these people (among others) look like they could be our villain(s). Further complications arise when the aforementioned offshore bank account turns out to be in Bill Marks' own name!! Is HE our villain?? As cell phone videos of the increasing hysteria onboard are picked up by news, TV reporters assert that the flight has been hijacked by Air Marshal, Bill Marks. And so, with barricaded pilots, worldwide knowledge of this 'hijack' situation, & rebellious passengers growing alarmingly suspicious of their Air Marshall "hero" ... complete chaos ensues.
I enjoyed most of 'Non-Stop' as adrenaline-pumping entertainment. On one hand, the close quarters of a plane, limited suspects, & twists/turns give 'Non-Stop' the excellent ingredients for a classic mystery/thriller. On the other hand, it's VERY easy for the action to get VERY silly ... and it does. Absurdities abound; like when Neeson grabs a gun out of mid-air to take a shot at our baddie(s). It's one of those simultaneously ridiculous/fun moments that make-up a brunt of the proceedings. Though his work is fairly anonymous here, director Jaume Collet-Serra keeps things moving briskly & keeps our brain working overtime. He's made a movie that feels part Michael Bay, part Hitchcock; in that, it's a popcorn muncher that unfolds with slow burn paranoia & has our seemingly innocent anti-hero trying to figure out what the hell is going on around him. Furthermore, this film goes to show how imperfect the TSA screening & airline safety protocols can be.
61 yr. old Liam Neeson is just a badass. I don't think Neeson ever figured 5-6 yrs. ago that he'd become the aging action star that he is, but the man has just. got. it. And for this role, Neeson has the requisite gravitas to make all the implausible action as compelling as it is. Even considering Bill's character flaws (drinks, chain smokes, grumpy), we immediately side with him; and that's thanks to Neeson's acting. In all, 'Non-Stop' gets a B rating out of me because, while the reveal of the bad person(s) is not all that satisfying, and while the last 15 minutes or so becomes batsh*t crazy preposterous ... the 80 minutes that precede the batsh*t craziness are thoroughly engaging. Tension builds throughout the proceedings. And who doesn't love a good 'ole whodunit in a tight, confined space?
Sneaking off to smoke in the lavatory, Marks initially suspects/hopes that the texts are a joke concocted by a fellow Air Marshal onboard ... but that's not the case. Before long, the body count begins to mount. Trusting only Jen & the 2 flight attendants – Nancy (Michelle Dockery, Lady Mary on Downton Abbey) & Gwen (Lupita Nyongo, Academy Award winner now for 12 Years a Slave) – Marks tries to narrow the list of suspects. 1) There's a suspicious-looking Middle Eastern doctor. 2) A shifty-eyed bald man (Corey Stoll). 3) An ill-tempered NYPD cop. 4) a black computer specialist. 5) An elderly lady. 6) a schoolteacher. 7) Heck ... stewardess Nancy, her co-pilot boyfriend, the pilot, & even Jen are among the very viable suspects.
Red herrings abound as each & every one of these people (among others) look like they could be our villain(s). Further complications arise when the aforementioned offshore bank account turns out to be in Bill Marks' own name!! Is HE our villain?? As cell phone videos of the increasing hysteria onboard are picked up by news, TV reporters assert that the flight has been hijacked by Air Marshal, Bill Marks. And so, with barricaded pilots, worldwide knowledge of this 'hijack' situation, & rebellious passengers growing alarmingly suspicious of their Air Marshall "hero" ... complete chaos ensues.
I enjoyed most of 'Non-Stop' as adrenaline-pumping entertainment. On one hand, the close quarters of a plane, limited suspects, & twists/turns give 'Non-Stop' the excellent ingredients for a classic mystery/thriller. On the other hand, it's VERY easy for the action to get VERY silly ... and it does. Absurdities abound; like when Neeson grabs a gun out of mid-air to take a shot at our baddie(s). It's one of those simultaneously ridiculous/fun moments that make-up a brunt of the proceedings. Though his work is fairly anonymous here, director Jaume Collet-Serra keeps things moving briskly & keeps our brain working overtime. He's made a movie that feels part Michael Bay, part Hitchcock; in that, it's a popcorn muncher that unfolds with slow burn paranoia & has our seemingly innocent anti-hero trying to figure out what the hell is going on around him. Furthermore, this film goes to show how imperfect the TSA screening & airline safety protocols can be.
61 yr. old Liam Neeson is just a badass. I don't think Neeson ever figured 5-6 yrs. ago that he'd become the aging action star that he is, but the man has just. got. it. And for this role, Neeson has the requisite gravitas to make all the implausible action as compelling as it is. Even considering Bill's character flaws (drinks, chain smokes, grumpy), we immediately side with him; and that's thanks to Neeson's acting. In all, 'Non-Stop' gets a B rating out of me because, while the reveal of the bad person(s) is not all that satisfying, and while the last 15 minutes or so becomes batsh*t crazy preposterous ... the 80 minutes that precede the batsh*t craziness are thoroughly engaging. Tension builds throughout the proceedings. And who doesn't love a good 'ole whodunit in a tight, confined space?