Mobster and hit man Jimmy Conlon has one night to figure out where his
loyalties lie: with his estranged son, Mike, whose life is in danger, or
his longtime best friend, mob boss Shawn Maguire, who wants Mike to pay
for the death of his own son.
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Writer: Brad Ingelsby
Stars: Liam Neeson, Ed Harris, Joel Kinnaman | See full cast and crew »
Storyline
Professional Brooklyn hitman Jimmy Conlon is more commonly known as THE
GRAVEDIGGER. Jimmy was a mob hit-man, who was best friends with his boss
Sean Maguire. But when Jimmy's son, Michael, is marked for death by the
mob, Jimmy must go up against Sean to protect Michael at all costs.
Together, he and Michael must avoid corrupt cops, contract killers and
the mob to survive the night.
User Reviews
The
movie this is most like is Unforgiven. An evil monster who hates what
he is and is feared and loathed by all who meet him. Michael, his
estranged son, keeps his family a long way from Jimmy. Only the mob
boss, now going legitimate, who feels guilty for making Jimmy the
monster he is, will associate with him. Like Unforgiven, Jimmy is sucked
into events that make him return to the killing monster he was. Michael
witnesses Danny, Shawn's son, shooting some heroin dealers, and Danny
decides to kill Michael. Once Jimmy shoots Danny to prevent him from
killing Michael, the old nightmare returns. The best line to understand
Jimmy is his answer to the cop,"Just because I'm not in prison doesn't
mean I'm not being punished." Forgive the moralist, I enjoy movies
dissonant with today's decadent libertinism that dare to depict Evil as
its own punishment. Yes, it is and how rare in a modern American movie.
The film follows Jimmy protecting Michael one nightmarish night. Along
the way, Michael learns to see the man inside of the monster. I liked
where Jimmy said he had to leave them to protect them from the monster
he had become.
These characters are not the cardboard cut outs of Taken. Good and Evil are blended together like real human beings. Even after Jimmy shoots Shawn, there still is affection between them. As he dies in his arms, the complexity that is the quintessence of dichotomous creatures both light and night is delineated well. Yes, the movie is violent, graphic and ugly in parts. I could have lived without seeing Shawn repeatedly stabbing Danny's partner in the back. Jimmy kills plenty of people coming for Michael. I admit the critics are right about the final shot with the rifle; it was pure fantasy. It is not important not to miss the forest for the trees with this movie. The microcosmic image of this film is dead Jimmy clutching in his deceased hand the list of all the families he destroyed serving Shawn that the cop wanted so badly. This is the very essence of the movie: an evil man filled with guilt trying to show his love for his son; indeed, he gives his very life for all of them. Taken was a live action cartoon utterly devoid of any reality. Here, Jimmy dies at the end; this is not a cartoon. Yes, the final shot is a flaw, you are right, but the theme of the movie is meritorious within this antithetical Zeitgeist.
Harris and Neeson create characters with depth to them full of ambivalence like real human beings. Like Munny, he is seeking redemption; in Jimmy's case it costs him everything. My favorite scene in the movie is the last one where Michael has put Jimmy's picture back up. Like what is done humorously in Uncle Buck, the performance of good is never too late as long as one is still breathing. Like Munny, several times Jimmy stops Michael from killing people,"You pull that trigger you become just like me." The movie is relentlessly intense and well acted with great writing. Try finding another film this deeply moral beneath the action. Any movie that models nobility: giving your life to protect helpless ones will be forgiven, by me, a multitude of flaws. A Good Movie.
These characters are not the cardboard cut outs of Taken. Good and Evil are blended together like real human beings. Even after Jimmy shoots Shawn, there still is affection between them. As he dies in his arms, the complexity that is the quintessence of dichotomous creatures both light and night is delineated well. Yes, the movie is violent, graphic and ugly in parts. I could have lived without seeing Shawn repeatedly stabbing Danny's partner in the back. Jimmy kills plenty of people coming for Michael. I admit the critics are right about the final shot with the rifle; it was pure fantasy. It is not important not to miss the forest for the trees with this movie. The microcosmic image of this film is dead Jimmy clutching in his deceased hand the list of all the families he destroyed serving Shawn that the cop wanted so badly. This is the very essence of the movie: an evil man filled with guilt trying to show his love for his son; indeed, he gives his very life for all of them. Taken was a live action cartoon utterly devoid of any reality. Here, Jimmy dies at the end; this is not a cartoon. Yes, the final shot is a flaw, you are right, but the theme of the movie is meritorious within this antithetical Zeitgeist.
Harris and Neeson create characters with depth to them full of ambivalence like real human beings. Like Munny, he is seeking redemption; in Jimmy's case it costs him everything. My favorite scene in the movie is the last one where Michael has put Jimmy's picture back up. Like what is done humorously in Uncle Buck, the performance of good is never too late as long as one is still breathing. Like Munny, several times Jimmy stops Michael from killing people,"You pull that trigger you become just like me." The movie is relentlessly intense and well acted with great writing. Try finding another film this deeply moral beneath the action. Any movie that models nobility: giving your life to protect helpless ones will be forgiven, by me, a multitude of flaws. A Good Movie.
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