As memory serves, it was only about two and a half years ago that Liam Neeson played a career criminal with early dementia in the elegantly constructed, well-acted and taut thriller “Memory.” Now comes “Absolution,” an elegantly constructed, well-acted and taut thriller starring Liam Neeson as ..
. a career criminal with early dementia. Yes, it feels as if we’ve seen this movie before — but thanks to the suitably gritty and grainy, New England-set direction by Hans Petter Moland, the still-resonant star power of Neeson and a terrific supporting cast, “Absolution” delivers a punch with a sting all its own.
For a number of years, the now 72-year-old Neeson has been talking about how he can’t do action movies forever; in a 2020 conversation, he told me it was important his character in “Honest Thief” be a little out of shape because “audiences wise up to that stuff. This guy [isn’t] 33.” Yet here we are in 2024, and Neeson continues his streak of making films with tag lines such as TAKE BACK YOUR LIFE (“Unknown”) and NEVER STEAL A MAN’S SECOND CHANCE (“Honest Thief”) and now EVERYONE PAYS IN THE END (“Absolution”).
Reuniting with his “Cold Pursuit” (REVENGE IS BEST SERVED COLD) director Moland in this bare-knuckled thriller, Neeson proves there’s still plenty of petrol in the tank with his resonant performance as an aging, mid-level criminal who is experiencing rapid losses of memory and cognitive function — and sets out to right .