Cold Pursuit Review

Liam Neeson has become synonymous with the thriller genre and his 2019 offering is a remake of a Norwegian dark-comedy.

Nelson “Nels” Coxman (Neeson) is a snowplow driver for the ski resort town of Kehoe. His life is shattered when his son (Micheál Richardson) dies of a heroin overdose. Refusing to believe his son was a drug addict Nels decides to go on a mission of vengeance, leading him to kill numerous dealers in Denver. Nels inadvertently starts a gang war between the Denver kingpin Trevor “Viking” Calcote (Tom Bateman) and a Native American outfit led by Wild Bull (Tom Jackson).

There were two trailers released to promote the film. The American version made the film out to be a serious thriller whilst the international version highlighted the comedy. This is symptomatic of the film itself – it’s unsure what it really wants to be. The film had a strong story for a neo-noir or neo-western crime thriller where one small act leads to a huge chain of events. Give the concept to ten different writers they would provide ten different stories. What Cold Pursuit delivered was a vengeance film within a Guy Ritchie style gangster film.

Neeson is known for being a stoic actor. Even when he’s in comedies he plays it straight and often these films play upon his gruff persona. However, his straight-laced approach makes the actor look like he is appearing in a different film from the rest of the cast. Nels is basically a regular person in a wacky role. Neeson is not even the straight man, he looks like just step out of one of his thriller roles. Sometimes the film shows Neeson plays his role seriously whilst around him is played comedic like his hostile Asian wife (Elizabeth Thai). Although Thai was pretty awesome in her role.

Director Hans Petter Moland remade his own film, In Order of Disappearance, a film I have admittedly not seen. So I will be making more comparisons to Guy Ritchie’s gangster films. Like Ritchie films Cold Pursuit has elaborate plotting where there are many interconnected plots, have a sense of humour, and every criminal has a nickname. However, Ritchie’s films have a flair to them, something that Cold Pursuit was lacking.

Cold Pursuit gets bogged with the subplots, but some are left lingering. The worst example involves Emmy Rossum’s role as a local police officer whose role was just to provide some exposition. She plays no role in the wider plot. When the gang war between Viking and White Bull heats up Nels ends up disappearing for a large portion of the film. Ritchie’s films were able to tie all the storylines together.

The most visually inventive part of the film was showing a title card when someone gets killed. Otherwise the film is unremarkable on this front. There were some a few flashes like when Nels goes to a nightclub and assassins a man in a wedding store. But Cold Pursuit doesn’t match the creativity of Ritchie’s gangster films or other Neeson thrillers like Non-Stop.

Cold Pursuit has one big dramatic through line – the theme of father-and-son. The three main characters have a relationship with their sons. Nels and White Bull lose their sons and Viking is protective of his to the point he dictates what he eats. Its ties them together and Nels and White Bull wants blood for their losses and their actors drive Cold Pursuit’s third act.

When it comes to the pantheon of Liam Neeson thrillers Cold Pursuit stands out because it’s dark humour and a solid crime/revenge story.