Cold Pursuit (2019) Action-Thriller RT: 118 minutes Rated R (strong violence, drug material, some language including sexual references) Director: Hans Petter Moland Screenplay: Frank Baldwin Music: George Fenton Cinematography: Philip Ogaard Release date: February 8, 2019 (US) Cast: Liam Neeson, Tom Bateman, Tom Jackson, Emmy Rossum, John Doman, Domenick Lombardozzi, Julia James, Nicholas Holmes, Michael Richardson, Michael Eklund, Bradley Stryker, Wesley MacInnes, Benjamin Hollingsworth, Arnold Pinnock, Mitchell Saddleback, Glen Gould, Raoul Trujillo, Elizabeth Thai, William Forsythe, Laura Dern. Box Office: $32.1M (US)/$76.2M (World)
Rating: ***
Despite all outward appearances, Cold Pursuit is NOT the kind of action movie that has defined Liam Neeson’s career since Taken ten years ago. If anything, it’s more like Fargo. It’s a black comedy disguised as a revenge thriller. It’s a remake of the 2014 Norwegian film In Order of Disappearance about a snow plow driver avenging the death of his only son at the hands of drug dealers. More oft than not, American versions of foreign films don’t turn out well. A lot of times, the story loses something in translation. A recent example is the hit comedy-drama The Upside (starring Kevin Hart and Bryan Cranston), a movie beloved by audiences who probably didn’t see the French original. That’s not true in the case of Cold Pursuit. It has a few flaws, but I think the Americans did the original version justice.
Cold Pursuit stays pretty close to the original because Hans Petter Moland, making his American debut, directed both versions. Neeson plays Nels Coxman, a solid citizen of the ski resort town of Kehoe, CO who keeps the roads clear with his trusty plow. On the same night he receives a Citizen of the Year award, his son Kyle (real-life son Richardson) dies of what appears to be a heroin overdose. The only problem is that Kyle, an airport worker, wasn’t a drug addict. It turns out he and his friend stole a kilo of coke from drug dealers and got caught. It’s no matter, Nels wants his pound of flesh so he goes after the guys who did the killing. After that, he works his way up the ladder to the crime boss Viking (Bateman, Da Vinci’s Demons) who runs the local trade.
Viking is a vicious sort who thinks being a good father to his young son Ryan (Holmes) entails micromanaging his diet and telling him Lord of the Flies contains the answers to all of life’s questions. When his employees start disappearing, he blames it on the competition, a drug cartel comprised of Ute Indians. By way of retaliation, he kills the son of the leader White Bull (Jackson, Skinwalkers) and displays the body in a public place. This, of course, ignites a war between the two gangs. Meanwhile, the bodies continue to pile up while two local cops, Kim (Rossum, Shameless) and Gip (Doman, You Were Never Really Here), try to make sense of the situation. A gang war is a bit out of their league.
Several moviegoers will doubtlessly find Cold Pursuit weird. Like I said, it’s not your typical Saturday afternoon action flick. Sure, it has plenty of shooting and violence, but it’s done with a wicked sense of humor. I mean, what other action movie opens with a quote from Oscar Wilde (“Some cause happiness wherever they go, others whenever they go.”). This is an ideal quote for a film populated by sad, depressed people in a sad, depressed town where even paragliding takes on a sad, depressed quality. But like I said, Cold Pursuit is darkly funny. So it is we get scenes like the one where White Bull sadly notes the appropriation of his people’s culture by spotting a “Made in China” label on an article of supposedly authentic Native American clothing. Part of me was hoping for a scene of him shedding a tear on the side of a highway after some idiot litters from his car. There are other funny bits including a scene at the end of a kid driving a snow blower. The female cop’s reaction is priceless. The final scene is a real hoot as well. But worry not, action junkies, there’s plenty of killing on hand.
I have no comment on the recent controversy surrounding Neeson over a comment he made in an interview. This is a film review NOT an editorial. I’m only concerned with his performance in Cold Pursuit. As it so happens, it’s a good performance. He convincingly portrays a father so consumed by grief that the idea of right or wrong goes completely out the window. Another thing that separates Cold Pursuit from movies like Taken, Non-Stop, Run All Night and The Commuter is in treating vengeance in a darkly comic manner, it doesn’t take away from the self-negating nature of it. No amount of revenge will satisfy Nels because he doesn’t particularly like himself to begin with. He’s the kind of guy who doesn’t talk about his feelings or anything else for that matter. He can’t even communicate his grief to his own wife (a criminally underused Dern) who leaves him shortly thereafter. His only solace is the bond he develops with Viking’s son at one point in the picture. Speaking of which, Bateman is sufficiently slimy and despicable as the villain of the piece. He’s such a hateful guy, you’re bound to cheer when his bullied ex-wife (Jones, Twilight) finally stands up to him. William Forsythe (Stone Cold) is also good as Nel’s brother who’s familiar with all the key players in the local criminal underbelly.
The snowy cinematography by Philip Ogaard (In Order of Disappearance) is gorgeous. The bleak Colorado setting nicely augments the tone of the story. There’s a lot to admire about Cold Pursuit. It’s good enough that you don’t even mind that it occasionally meanders or not all the pieces fit neatly together. It’s not a perfect film by any means, but it’s a damn good one. It’s definitely not a generic action flick like last week’s Miss Bala (also an Americanized remake). It may not be everybody’s cup of tea, but if you dig strange movies like Fargo, chances are you’ll dig Cold Pursuit as well.
