Review: Cold Pursuit

It seems like the template of any post-Taken Liam Neeson film - man exacts revenge on those who have wronged his family - but Cold Pursuit takes unexpected detours within the formula. More black comedy than straight revenge thriller, the film is a remake of the 2014 Norwegian film, In Order of Disappearance, which starred Stellan Skarsgård and was directed by Hans Petter Moland, who also takes on the directorial reins of this American remake.

Neeson plays Nels Coxman, a snowplow driver recently awarded "Citizen of the Year" by the residents of Kehoe, Colorado. "I picked a good road early, and I stayed on it," he says during his acceptance speech, further underscoring his reputation as an upstanding family man. Bad things are about to come his way, the first and most terrible of which is the death of his son Kyle. Coxman refuses to believe that his son died of a drug overdose and, indeed, as soon as he learns that Kyle was an innocent bystander murdered by a drug cartel, Coxman sets aside any depressed and suicidal thoughts and decides to take matters into his own hands.

As Coxman tracks down and disposes of the various members of the drug cartel, his vigilantism results in exacerbating a turf war between two rival gangs. One is headed up by the Viking (Tom Bateman), a condescending control freak who has partial custody of his son, Ryan (Nicholas Holmes), and who believes that his men are being killed off by members of the American Indian cartel controlled by White Bull (Tom Jackson). Viking and White Bull's respective squads are populated by colourfully named characters, most of whom make vivid impressions before they meet their respective ends. One in particular, Mustang (Domenick Lombardozzi), is especially endearing for his love of fantasy football and fellow henchman Dexter (Benjamin Hollingsworth). White Bull himself is a vessel through which Moland can touch upon how the Southern Ute tribe has experienced cultural appropriation. White Bull's finding a "Made in China" label in a white designer's merchandising of his culture is both comic and deeply poignant.

Moland finds clever ways to send up the genre, whether it be with the endless parade of often hilarious nicknames or the title cards marking each man's death. He certainly doesn't skimp on the violence, though most of it occurs offscreen. At its best, Cold Pursuit resembles an Elmore Leonard novel with its crackling dialogue and quirky characters; at its worst, the film is a more than satisfying if by-the-numbers effort.

Cold Pursuit

Directed by: Hans Petter Moland

Written by: Frank Baldwin; based on the screenplay for In Order of Disappearance by Kim Fupz Aakeson

Starring: Liam Neeson, Laura Dern, Emmy Rossum, Tom Bateman, William Forsythe, Julia Jones, Domenick Lombardozzi, Raoul Trujillo, Benjamin Hollingsworth, Nicholas Holmes