Too Old for This
Liam Neeson old dude actioners are starting to get, well, old. But at least ‘Memory’ made more of an effort than ‘Blacklight’.
Memory
Director: Martin Campbell • Writer: Dario Scardapane, based on the novel by Jef Geeraerts, screenplay by Carl Joos, Erik Van Looy
Starring: Liam Neeson, Guy Pearce, Monica Bellucci, Ray Stevenson, Taj Atwal, Ray Fearon. Daniel de Bourg, Stella Stocker
USA • 1hr 54mins
Opens Hong Kong August 11 • III
Grade: C+
Maybe Liam Neeson has been hearing the jokes about his geriaction career, and the cracks about how he’s looking increasingly elderly the more of these watered down Taken knock-offs he cashes cheques for. As forgettable (ahem) as Memory is, there’s some ultra-dark humour to be found in a story about the aged killer/operative/reformed con Neeson plays this time suffering from Alzheimer’s. I shit you not. Talk about leaning into your leading man’s strengths. I guess?
At the helm this time is Martin Campbell, who during his career has swung from flaming hot (Casino Royale, the 1985 BBC series Edge of Darkness) to stone cold (The Green Lantern, The Foreigner), with a few surprises thrown in for good measure, mostly for being better than they had a right to be (The Protégé). It’s understandable for hopes to be high going into Memory. It’s got a stacked supporting cast, an admittedly intriguing concept, and it’s based on the well-received Belgian film, The Alzheimer Case. Alas, Neeson’s latest entry in the sub-genre he’s perfected falls outside his top five (seriously, check out Cold Pursuit). It might be time for him to hang it up and go back to what made him famous. You know. Acting?
Put down the adult diaper!
This time around Neeson is Alex Lewis, a cartel (?) hitman living in Mexico (played by inexpensive Bulgaria) who’s suddenly had an epiphany: Murdering children who get in the way of the drug trade is not nice. Or something. We meet him during his – wait for it – last job, after which he swallows a couple of pills. You see, Alex is suffering early (?) onset Alzheimer’s (for the record, Neeson is 70, so not that early) and it’s starting to interfere with his work. Meanwhile in what appears to be El Paso, FBI agents Vincent Serra (Guy Pearce, only partially as charming as Pearce can be), Linda Amistead (Taj Atwal) and local cop Hugo Marquez (Harold Torres) are investigating a child trafficking ring, which puts one of its victims in Alex’s sphere. Also lurking in the wings are shady detective Mora (Ray Stevenson), who of course clashes with Vincent over jurisdictional issues, shady crime lord/entrepreneur Davana Sealman (Monica Bellucci in Imperious Mode), and her shady, pervy son Randy (Josh Taylor) among others. If you can’t guess innocents will be murdered, law enforcement will be compromised, damning evidence will be discovered at the last-minute, a prosecutor will declare “I can’t take this to a jury!” and a final reckoning will be grim you need to see more movies. That said, Neeson’s fate is slightly – slightly – unexpected, and the closing moments have a nice battered morality to them, which provides a welcome jolt of nihilism. Must be the Belgian influence.
Memory’s biggest problem is that it’s so very average. It’s not bad enough to be good-bad, but it’s not good enough to be, well, good. There’s a nasty, corrupt, bleak vein running just beneath the surface, but Campbell and screenwriter Dario Scardapane don’t pick up that ball and run with it – something Scardapane, a producer and writer for Netflix’s The Punisher, has demonstrated he has the ability to do. What’s left is a B-action flick lacking in the kind of nastiness DTV diversions at their best can provide. Recent gems like Copshop (all hail G.But!), Den of Thieves (again!) and Hobo with a Shotgun (that title) found that sweet spot. Taken found that sweet spot. Did I mention Cold Pursuit? And as a bonus those films very often hit a funny bone, which Memory abjectly does not. It’s all very serious and straight-faced, with not a whiff of technical, formal or thematic creativity to back it up. Ironically, the story is overstuffed and convoluted, which goes a long way to explaining why the cast looks half asleep. Or maybe they’re just feeling old. I know I do. But hey. It’s not a rubbish as Blacklight. — DEK