Eight years after Matt (Neeson) gave up drinking and retired from being a cop, he's working as an unlicensed private eye in 1999 New York. His new client is Kenny (Stevens), a wealthy drug trafficker whose wife was killed by two mystery men (Harbour and Thompson). But Matt discovers that she's not their only victim, and there's a link between the murders. He also takes homeless teen TJ (Bradley) under his wing when he spots the boy's talent for detective work. And together they try to figure out who the next victim will be.

Frank directs this with a sometimes jarring mixture of deafening shootouts and earthy drama. Almost everything has a seriously grisly angle to it, from the ghastly kidnappings to the characters' inner torture. And all of this combines to hold the audience's interest in both the dark personal dramas as well as the larger mystery about two men kidnapping women then killing them even after a ransom has been paid.

Some plot points feel rather excessive (TJ has sickle cell anaemia), but the focussed filmmaking and acting keep things moving. Neeson combines his serious-actor cred with his action-hero persona, bouncing nicely off Bradley's quick-minded sidekick. Stevens is slick and compelling as the frantic husband, while Holbrook holds his own as Kenny's ex-alcoholic brother. There's also a wide range of smaller roles that add interest through tiny details, from Olafsson's evasive cemetery worker to Roche's harried Russian mobster.

On the other hand, the killers are almost supernaturally efficient in their work, which seems motivated only by cruel brutality. And since the film never bothers to make anything of the female characters, it sometimes seems like Frank is taking the killers' side. He certainly never makes much of the film's title; the idea that death surrounds us is never much more than a gimmick, as is the use of AA's 12 steps. But the film's slick weariness and jaded, abrasive characters make it impossible to look away.

themes, language, violence, drugs

14.Aug.14