The Commuter

While all of Liam Neeson’s action thrillers have been implausible, this one stretches credulity to the breaking point. Michael MacCauley (Neeson), a cop turned insurance salesman, is glumly heading home from New York by train after being abruptly fired. Faced with financial ruin, he is accosted by a strange woman who offers him $100,000 to identify a passenger on the train named Prynne and tag his or her bag with a GPS device. When the cash proves to be insufficient inducement, threats to Michael’s wife and son are added. The woman keeps close tabs on everything Michael does—even killing a fellow passenger he asks to call the police—so he is compelled to comply, even though the train is filled with so many suspicious characters that it makes Agatha Christie’s Orient Express look empty by comparison. The increasingly frazzled Michael winds up in some serious scrapes, including a couple of brawls that leave him bloody and battered: at one point he is dangling from a window of the speeding train, while another finds him clinging to its undercarriage. Of course, Michael must ultimately deduce who is behind his predicament and why; the answers, unfortunately, are not surprising. Director Jaume Collet-Serra’s The Commuter takes viewers on a cinematic ride that is completely unbelievable, but Neeson has become such an old hand at making brainless action material work that this will still likely appeal to those who enjoyed the Taken franchise. A strong optional purchase. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include the behind-the-scenes featurettes “End of the Line” (9 min.) and “Off the Rails” (4 min.). Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are bonus DVD, digital, and UltraViolet copies of the film. Bottom line: a decent extras package for a so-so thriller.] (F. Swietek)