Memory (Open Road Films, R)
Liam Neeson, in my approximation, can be attributed with reigniting America’s fervor for the solo action hero flick. Sure, there are others that started to come out around the same time as the first Taken, but Wanted, Rock n’ Rolla, and The Bank Job hardly captured the attention of moviegoers like Neeson’s kidnapping revenge flick. Perhaps it was Liam Neeson himself, an actor of no small acclaim, taking to the cheap, raucous action genre that did it. Maybe Americans just discovered they missed the trip of middle-aged men wreaking havoc and walking away relatively unscathed. After Taken we saw a resurgence in these films. You got Denzel Washington in The Equalizer, you got Tom Cruise in Reacher, you got Ben Affleck in The Accountant, and who could forget the incredible John Wick phenomenon featuring America’s favorite uncle, Keanu Reeves? I would like to argue, the fire was re-lit in 2008, and since then we have seen a renaissance of old/older guys blowing shit up and taking down hordes of ne'er-do-wells. And Liam didn’t stop with Taken. The first movie would go on to have two sequels (kidnap my daughter once…shame on you…) and would even start a short lived television series with the same name.
Upon Taken’s shoulders Neeson would go on to make The A-Team, Unknown, The Grey, Non-Stop, A Walk Among the Tombstones, Run All Night, Commuter, Cold Pursuit, Honest Thief, The Marksman, The Ice Road, Blacklight, and finally Memory. The man is an absolute force. And the Solo Hero Action Flick has never been healthier. Honestly, if John Wick doesn’t pay its respects and cast Liam in an upcoming installment, they are messing up. Anyway, before I get too worked up, this week Neeson’s latest action flick Memory releases.
Focused on aging hitman Alex Lewis, Memory takes the “assassin who wants out” trope and gives its protagonist ever encroaching Alzheimer’s. Lewis, played by Neeson, is tasked with taking out two targets but when he discovers the second target is just a thirteen year old girl, he refuses. Assassins have to have a code right? His refusal sparks a series of escalating murders, planting Lewis in the middle of a harrowing cat and mouse, all while his grasp on reality starts to slip ever further from his grasp.
The use of Alzheimer’s in this movie is interesting. Most action flicks like this are pretty straightforward, sometimes even bordering on mundane. Guy gets job, guy does job, something goes wrong, guy has to fix it. Where Memory differentiates itself lies in its tampering with our narrator. We watch the film largely through the eyes of Neeson’s aged Lewis, occasionally stopping off to follow the team of FBI Trafficking agents who are trying to piece together the mystery Lewis is unspooling. Yet there are several moments where what we are shown and what is discovered later, don’t exactly line up. At one point a target is “eliminated” but we never really get the chance to see it. Effectively making the viewer question what is actually going on. Did he kill that person? Did someone else? Is someone following behind him and cleaning up his mess? It’s a clever take, even if it sometimes leaves you with more questions than answers.
Heading the FBI team is veteran actor Guy Pearce, and I couldn’t help but catch myself remembering his role in one of Christopher Nolan’s first films, Memento. In that film Pearce is a man investigating the murder of his wife, all while struggling from short term memory loss. He tattoos things onto his body, clues and hints that help him remember what he is doing. Neeson’s Lewis often writes notes on his arms. As the film progresses, even those notes aren’t as helpful as they were intended to be. It’s an interesting wrinkle seeing Pearce on the opposite side of this dilemma. Pearce’s team, played by Taj Atwal and Harold Torres, is…fine. Their performances border on “cardboard cutout” more times than I would like, but their screen time is acceptably limited. Also filling in the cast is the foreboding silhouette of Ray Stevenson, a six foot three monolith of a man playing a Texas Detective, working with the FBI. The perpetually stunning Monica Belluci also plays a key role, pulling strings from the shadows of her high rise office.
All in all, Memory is a perfectly entertaining jaunt. I think that Neeson is in his sweet spot in these movies, easily commanding the screen and often believably participating in action scenes. He doesn’t fight like a kid, he never really has. He’s slower, but with that slowness comes baked in expertise, and righteous anger. The film starts to fall apart in its last act, much like its protagonist, but the slowed momentum gives way to an extremely satisfying ending that, while I may have hoped for it, I did not actually expect to get it.
Memory isn’t Neeson’s best action flick, but it certainly isn’t his worst. Its fast-paced when it needs to be, puzzling in the best ways, and just downright entertaining. I rarely catch myself thinking through an action movie’s events as much as I was here. Often times there is nothing to think about. Casting doubt on all of Lewis’s actions really spices up the formula, and Guy Pearce shoulders the weight of the B-plot with comfort. While it may not be the most memorable experience, Memory is a great addition to a summer season that is getting properly spun up. If action is your poison, make your way to a theater and watch the grandfather of the modern action flick work his magic.
~Caleb