The Commuter
Published 2018-06-15
Film info
- Title The Commuter
- Director Jaume Collet-Serra
- Year 2018
- Run time 1hr 45m
- Genres Action, Thriller, Mystery
- Tagline Lives are on the line
- Cast Liam Neeson, Vera Farmiga, Sam Neill, Florence Pugh
In this action-packed thriller, Michael is an insurance salesman whose daily commute home quickly becomes anything but routine. After being confronted by a mysterious stranger, Michael is blackmailed into finding the identity of a passenger on his train. As he works against the clock to solve the puzzle before the train’s last stop, Michael is unwittingly caught up in a criminal conspiracy that carries life-and-death stakes for himself and his fellow passengers.
Live blog
| Time | Comment |
|---|---|
| 4:14 | I like this montage of commuter life. |
| 5:37 | "I moved here from Ireland..." he says. Finally admitting his accent! |
| 9:09 | Because the last thing you should do is tell your wife what's going on, for goodness' sake. |
| 14:40 | "If the train don't kill me, the people will." That's gonna come true, for sure. |
| 17:28 | Eclectic, she says, as though it's not some kind of hell on earth. |
| 21:10 | Not so hypothetical. |
| 24:00 | Big old train if he has to interrogate everyone. |
| 28:40 | Him saying Karen is confusing me because of Love Actually. |
| 32:46 | The whole ticket stub on the back of the seat thing seems entirely unsophisticated - surely people move about. He certainly is. What about standing? |
| 41:02 | He got on after the mission was set though. |
| 47:34 | He does get very involved, taking a phone off a dead body doesn't seem wise. |
| 52:18 | All for a measly dollar! Rage! |
| 58:04 | It's all gone a bit Murder on the Orient Express. |
| 1:02:08 | I like that he's not super cool amazing fighter now. He has some moves, but he's also 60. |
| 1:09:49 | Speeeeed! |
| 1:14:59 | I like the image of the carriage crossing the level crossing sideways. The rest of it, a bit over the top. |
| 1:21:22 | "Don't be alarmed," in the middle of the most terrifying situation ever. |
| 1:27:39 | The newspapers would so have dried out and fallen off already. |
| 1:34:53 | H-E-R-O, hero. |
| 1:39:44 | Ooh, loving the tube map style credits. |
Thoughts
Been a little while since we watched a film so wanted to ease ourselves back in with something kinda mindless - you know, Neeson flexing his specialist skills as always.
This was alright, as films like this go, but it was intensely derivative, occasionally confusing, and not really all that satisfying in the end. The number of films we narrowed it down to having pulled from was eight, including Neeson's own previous efforts in Taken and Non-Stop, the railway shenanigans of Speed and Unstoppable, with a bit of Sparticus and Murder on the Orient Express thrown in for good measure.
Occasionally fun, a few good twists and turns, but really nothing to write home about at all. I'm scoring this a two, but a strong two because it never claimed to be anything other than what it was, and therefore it lived up to the expectations.
Rating: 2 / 5