Film Review: "The Commuter" (2018).

"Every Passenger Is A Piece Of The Puzzle" in The Commuter. This action thriller film directed by Jaume Collet-Serra and written by Byron Willinger, Philip de Blasi and Ryan Engle. Insurance salesman Michael is on his daily commute home, which quickly becomes anything but routine. After being contacted by a mysterious stranger, Michael is forced to uncover the identity of a hidden passenger on the train before the last stop. As he works against the clock to solve the puzzle, he realizes a deadly plan is unfolding, and he is unwittingly caught up in a criminal conspiracy that carries life and death stakes for everyone on the train.

In January 2010, Olatunde Osunsanmi was hired to direct the film penned by Willinger and de Blasi. However, in August 2011, Julian Jarrold was reported to be hired to direct the film instead. Ultimately, in January 2016, Collet-Serra was hired to the direct the film with Liam Neeson to star. By late July, Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Jonathan Banks, Sam Neill, Elizabeth McGovern, Florence Pugh, Colin McFarlane and Letitia Wright rounded out the film's cast. At the same time, principal photography commenced and took place at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, England, as well as Surrey, English and New York City. Neeson revealed on a talk show that no scenes were filmed on board an actual train. Instead, all of these scenes were shot on a soundstage, with the same single mock-up train cabinet serving as all of them, only slightly redressed, and all the outside scenery added in post production with the help of green screens.

The film stars Neeson, Farmiga, Wilson, Banks, Neill, McGovern, Pugh, McFarlane and Wright. Delivers a nearly constant influx of thrills, thanks to a craftily written mystery reinforced by Neeson's believable tough guy performance. Neeson seems, for all his melancholic, hangdog delivery, as if he's having a great time tackling what used to be a younger, buffer man's game. And thanks to him, so are we. Neeson has really cornered the Hollywood market in lone mad dads. If you want a crazed drunk giant running around waving two guns and at least one mobile phone and/or a bottle of whisky, call the star of Schindler's List (1993).

If you're looking for an action film that's an enjoyable diversion then the film will fit the bill. As long as you turn off your brain and try not to think about it too hard. Clocking in at more than one-hundred minutes, the film plods along a muck of bad dialogue, contrived tension, finicky logic, and a sense that no one had the energy to create a solid pace in the first place. If there's a film that is pretty much true to its name, then this one is it. Another variation on the classic theme of a train hijack, the movie is relentless with not a wasted second. This, as you may have already guessed, is not a good film, in many ways it is an awful film, but that, interestingly enough, is not to say that this isn't a fun film and a great ride.

Simon says The Commuter receives:

Also, see my review for The Shallows.