This movie is a typical Liam Neeson and yet this movie is also refreshingly different. It's like the title suggests: A typical Liam Neeson is what I would describe as a hot pursuit movie - and this time we get a cold pursuit. It's a pursuit non the less, but still different.

The movie plays in Kehoe, a skiing resort in the Rocky Mountains, and Neeson's character - Nelson Coxman - is a snowplow driver. If he wouldn't work, no one could enter or leave Kehoe, which is why he's nominated as citizen of the year, even though he just does his job. But when his son mysteriously disappears, Coxman realizes a set of skills he wasn't yet aware of and with this new set of skills he sets a lunatic chain of events into motion.

When I saw the first trailer to this movie I was a bit torn. On the one hand, I like Liam Nesson action movies - I think Liam Neeson is a charismatic guy and even though a lot of people hat them - and yes, of course they are all the same and all of them reinvent the wheel - I think those movies are great. But a comedy? With Neeson? Oh my... I was fearing something that was more silly and stupid than action, and this movie could become totally stupid.

Luckily I was wrong. To be fair - it isn't a perfect movie either. There are a few weaknesses, but all in all I was really entertained by it and had a smile on my face the entire movie. The humor is really subtle and rather dark. There are no one-liners, no punchlines, nothing that expects you to burst into laughs all the time. It's rather bitter sweet dark humor, that is rather intelligent, and not always worded, but often also just induced by the style of filming, the editing or inappropriate absurd scenes. For instance there is a scene where a corpse has to be identified, and it was stored in a bottom drawer, so after pulling it out, they need to use a lever mechanism - and it felt like taking forever that the guy has to move the lever up and down so that the table is actually at a height so that the bereaved could actually finally lift the blanket and identify the corpse. These scenes remembered me of the first two episodes of Six Feet Under.

Even though it is funny it also has a lot of serious moments, and the movie is also about loss, and coping with loss, and of course about taking revenge. The "cold" in cold pursuit can be taken literally - all in all the movie is pretty slow paced - especially compared to typical Liam Neeson movies - and this is also due to the setting and the way the movie is made. Still whenever we get to the action scenes, it will get ugly. And aesthetic - the movie tries to find a certain kind of aesthetics in violence and also is pretty innovative in the killings, showing scenes you've probably never seen before.

I would think to put this movie somewhere between "The Grey" and "Taken" - a typical Liam Neeson movie that plays slower than his other movies do, paired with the dark humor of shows such as in Six Feet Under or Death at a Funeral, just not as thick and obvious.

I was entertained, I found it refreshing, and really liked it.

Well, there is a Boycott and, all I am going to say about that is that, given who it's coming from, they just want Lian Neeson to apologize, so they can refuse to accept it and destroy his career to signal how virtuous and powerful they are by harming others..

The motives are horrible.

But, for those among us that are normal, or at least not jumping onto that bandwagon, all I can say is...BEST ENDING EVER!!!!

So it's a bit 90s, the actor that did the big bad is not decent, but the twists are all kind of out of left field, and it's fun, for a revenge flick that is written to be sedate, darkly comical, and stylish.

And, to think I almost didn't see it because I am sick and tired of Taken.

What you get is a fun and entertaining film.

I am not sure why but I had fairly low expectations for this movie. Perhaps partly because revenge flicks really aren't my sub-genre. But I liked Cold Pursuit, seemingly more than many reviewers. I found it to be quite entertaining, with bits of humor, good dialogue and several small plot twists along the way. Plus I have always liked Liam Neeson. There is a child character who comes off looking more wise and savvy than the adults. His short scenes are pleasant interludes between the scenes of drama and violence. Being an action film, I knew not to look for character growth or subtlety in the subplots. I just buckled up and enjoyed the ride.

_**Revenge in the snowy Rockies with Liam Neeson**_

A grieving snowplow driver in the Rockies of central Colorado (Liam Neeson) seeks vengeance after his son is murdered by members of a ruthless drug cartel. Tom Bateman and Tom Jackson play the warring drug moguls while Laura Dern is on hand as the protagonist’s wife.

“Cold Pursuit” (2019) is a quirky crime drama/thriller that’s a remake of the director’s Scandinavian flick “In Order of Disappearance” from five years prior. Instead of being a straight revenge thriller in the snow it opts for a peculiar tone akin to Tarantino, the Coen brothers and Guy Ritchie.

Neeson is stalwart, the wintery locations are outstanding and the technical filmmaking is proficient. Unfortunately, the odd tone and supposedly ‘hip,’ morally bankrupt characters struck me the wrong way. Maybe it’s just a Scandinavian thang that didn’t translate well to North America. There are still enough highlights to make this worthwhile if you can roll with thug scum obsessed with killing each other mixed with black humor.

For similar movies that are arguably better, check out "Fargo" (1996), “Deadfall” (2012) and “The Big White” (2005).

The film runs 1 hour, 58 minutes and was shot in western Alberta (Kananaskis Country), British Columbia (Vancouver, Fernie & Victoria) and Manitoba (Winnipeg & Gimli).

GRADE: B-/C+

Nels Coxman (Liam Neeson) is a simple man who spends his days clearing the roads in a remote Colorado Ski Town and spends his days with his wife and his son. Nels is so unassuming that when he is awarded Citizen of the Year he states that there are others far more worthy and fusses over getting dressed up to accept the award and make a speech.

When his son is found dead of a Heroin overdose; Nels is not willing to accept that his son was a user even though this puts tremendous strain on his marriage and has taken Nels to consider suicide. At his worst moment he learns that his son’ co-worker was involved with some shady dealing and that his son was likely collateral damage from the criminal elements involved.

With a new found sense of purpose: Nels embarks on a quest to find the truth and avenge his son’s death no matter the consequences.

One would think that “Cold Pursuit” is a standard revenge film but it unexpectedly changes direction shortly after Nels starts exacting his revenge. The film transforms into a Dark Comedy of sorts as characters get a Title Screen when they are killed many of which have a morbid humor to them. The film even takes the bold step of moving away from Neeson for a good third of the film and putting the emphasis on other characters from rival crime organizations to the Sherriff and his eager Detective (Emmy Rossum).
As such the film is not what you expect as although there is plenty of action at times; it is a Dark Comedy with dramatic elements. It is more in line of what you might expect at a Film Festival from an Indie studio versus a major studio release.
As such fans of Neeson may be disappointed in seeing a departure from the type of films they have come to expect from him in recent years while others may embrace the quirky nature of the film.

3 stars out of 5