There have been few action stars—if any—busier than Liam Neeson for the past two decades, and in that time, he’s appeared in his fair share of box office hits alongside plenty of misfires. In fact, his filmography is now so extensive that there is a decent chance you’ve never even heard of some of his movies, including the genuinely solid action thriller Run All Night, which is finding new life on Netflix in the middle of the holiday season.
Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, who also collaborated with Neeson on Unknown and Non-Stop, Run All Night stars Neeson as ex-Irish Mob hitman Jimmy Conlon, who goes on the run with his estranged son Mike (Joel Kinnaman) after killing the son of a mob boss.
Not all of Liam Neeson’s thriller flicks hit the mark, Run All Night has the benefit of an absolutely stacked supporting cast. In addition to Joel Kinnaman, the movie features Ed Harris as Jimmy’s old boss Shawn Maguire, Common as assassin Andrew Price, Vincent D’Onofrio as Detective John Harding, and Boyd Holbrook as Shawn’s son Danny.
With a 59% on Rotten Tomatoes, it certainly isn’t Neeson’s most critically acclaimed movie, but it’s far from his worst. In fact, a number of critics were impressed with Neeson’s performance in the somewhat paint-by-numbers crime thriller.
“The movie is predictable and obvious, and it also feels a bit long, but who cares?” Neil Rosen wrote in his review for New York’s NY1. “It is a fun action flick with Neeson, doing what he does best these days – yielding satisfying results.”
“In the main, Jaume Collet-Serra is making a character-driven drama about betrayed honor, and the result is a film closer in spirit to the baggage-rich crime novels of Dennis Lehane than dumb multiplex fare,” said Time Out’s Joshua Rothkopf.
As with most of Neeson’s recent action movies, you’re much more likely to have a good time if you know what you’re getting into before you start. That’s clearly been the case for countless Netflix subscribers, as the movie is now #4 on the Top 10 Movies chart.