Non-Stop
Starring: Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore, Michelle Dockery
Directed by Jean-Marc Vallée
Reviewed by Brendan Dousi
[Rating: 2/4]
Liam Neeson has had an interesting career. For the majority of it he mostly starred in heavy, award-winning dramas that cemented him as one of the most serious actors in the business. This all seemed to change around 2008 when Neeson was cast in a little film called “Taken”. While not a critical masterpiece, it was a fun film that garnered a lot of positive attention and turned Neeson into an unlikely action star. Ever since, the majority of his roles seem to skew towards the high octane action genre. Some have had a certain gravitas to them, managing to have both action and meaning to them, while others have just turned out to be dumb, mindless cinema-fodder that just makes you wonder, “Why, Liam Neeson, why?”. The only question now is which category Neeson’s latest, “Non-Stop” will fall under?
Bill Marks (Liam Neeson) is a troubled man, he is an anti-social alcoholic with no money and nothing to lose. The only thing he has left is his job as a Federal Air Marshall, a job he takes very seriously. On what should be a routine trip to London, Bill gets a text on a secure-line that one person will die every 20 minutes unless 150 million dollars is transferred into a certain bank account. He checks with his fellow Marshall who dismisses it as a hoax but reports it to his superiors regardless. Recruiting the help of his overly-friendly fellow passenger Jen (Julianne Moore) and air stewardess Nancy (Michelle Dockery), Bill races against time to prevent the murder from happening. The only problem being that when the clock hits its first 20 minutes, he is the one who has killed a passenger in self-defence. When it is revealed that the bank details for the transfer is in his name, Bill not only has to try and prevent any other murders but also find out who is setting him up. All of this while running around like an absolute crazy person.
“Non-Stop” is by no means a subtle movie. It’s a very simple story that often tries to be clever but just ends up being convoluted and silly. Any attempt at intrigue just comes across as a joke. The characters are basic, the tension often frustrating and any time they try to illicit any sort of emotion out of the audience it seems to end in our laughter rather than empathy. Think of any single action movie cliché, whether it be a piece of dialogue, scene or character trope, and it will be in here. The main crime this movie pulls off is being utterly generic with little imagination involved.
That all said, it’s not a complete waste of time. Despite its short-comings it’s still a fairly entertaining film that certainly doesn’t bore. I’d go as far as to say it probably falls into that special “so bad it’s good” category. In fact, the last 15 minutes of the film are some of the funniest I’ve seen this year (whether intentionally or not). Never before have I laughed so hard at a young girl in imminent danger. The performances are all decent, the only real problem being that Neeson’s Bill Marks just runs around like an absolutely insane person. It actually gets hard to keep rooting for the main character when he’s acting so irrational. Sure, the character is in a horrible situation but Neeson just acts so erratic it starts to get uncomfortable to watch.
Bogged down by clichés and an uninspired script, “Non-Stop” definitely won’t make it onto anyone’s Top 10 list for 2014. However, if you’re a forgiving viewer who just wants to sit back, turn off your brain completely and watch a generic action movie this film might be right up your alley.
