In 'Cold Pursuit,' Going Down the Beaten Path With Liam Neeson Until the Trail Leads to Welcome, Untrodden Territory

White Bull (Tom Jackson), right, is the leader of a Native American drug cartel in "Cold Pursuit." Photo courtesy of StudioCanal

BY VW

Watching the early minutes of "Cold Pursuit," I am immediately disappointed. 

Here is Liam Neeson, an utterly accomplished actor in a film in which he has no business. Unless his business is money.

In "Cold Pursuit," opening today in U.S. theaters, LN is Nelson Coxman, the  operator of a greater Denver snowplow business. His son is killed. He goes after the bad guys.

I'm thinking we've been down this road before. It is called "Taken" and its sequels. Then, when the story turns in the direction outright vigilantism - evoking the ghost of Charles Bronson's "Death Wish" franchise - I fasten my seatbelt tightly, because I am resigned to a bumpy afternoon in a darkened theater.

(I will later learn that Hans Petter Moland's film is a remake of a Norwegian film that is based on a true story in which vigilantism figures prominently).

Back in real time, though, the film veers down another avenue, revealing unexpected signposts. I breathe a sigh of relief. 

Along with the dreaded familiar are some surprises, plus mounds and mounds of cheekiness ... More shortly.
"Cold Pursuit" is rated R. Visit http:// www.coldpursuit.movie/ to learn more about the film.