The Commuter never stops for breath, ensuring viewers have no time to question the myriad plot holes.
A sub-Hitchcockian thriller with enough forward momentum to thunder over its many plot holes, The Commuter is a surprisingly enjoyable if instantly forgettable crowd-pleaser that takes the audience for a ride — in more ways than one.
The Commuter is a missed opportunity, a Liam Neeson thriller that starts from an intriguing premise but quickly shoots off the rails as the plot improbabilities and genre clichés pile up.
From the incredible Godardian opening sequence to the final cheesy resolution, this is a total delight.
It’s preposterous, of course, but the what-would-you-do conundrum gives it an amusing kick and Neeson’s hollowed out everyman is surprisingly compelling.
It is nonsense but it is slick, highly entertaining nonsense.
The Commuter is wildly inefficient, lacking basic narrative logic. Yet it’s hard not to derive some pleasure from watching Neeson fling himself about a rickety commuter train (and, in one set piece, precariously close to some train tracks), throwing insults at Goldman Sachs “on behalf of the American middle class”.
General release. Check local listings for show times.