Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.0

A Walk Among the Tombstones Blu-ray Movie Review

"I do favors for people and, in return, they give me gifts. So, what can I do for you?"

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown January 16, 2015

A Walk Among the Tombstones is based on Lawrence Block's 1992 novel of the same name, but it's crime novelist Elmore Leonard whose voice and rhythm writer/director Scott Frank attempts to channel... which doesn't come as much of a surprise seeing as Frank penned the screenplays for Get Shorty and Out of Sight. The filmmaker's directorial debut, The Lookout, also serves as inspiration, followed by everything from David Fincher's Zodiac to Michael Haneke's Funny Games and Joel Schumacher's 8mm. There are long stretches, in fact, where Tombstones barely registers as its own film. That's not to say it isn't a functional thriller, or even an entertaining one, given the presence of 17-novel detective, Matt Scudder, a troubled alcoholic Liam Neeson (shaky New York accent aside) brings to convincing life. But there's a glaring unevenness that disrupts anything Frank accomplishes, not to mention an unfortunate familiarity that's at odds with the more unique aspects of Block's beloved unlicensed private investigator. Is A Walk Among the Tombstones a semi-enjoyable bit of neo-noir pulp? Maybe on the surface. Just be careful digging much deeper. You might be disappointed with how little you uncover.

"What I do have are a very particular set of skills. Skills I have acquired over a very long career..."

Ex-NYPD cop turned unlicensed private investigator Matt Scudder (Liam Neeson, Taken, Non-Stop) operates just outside the law, helping those in need and doing what the police are unable or unwilling to do. When Scudder reluctantly agrees to help heroin trafficker Kenny Kristo (Dan Stevens, The Guest) hunt down the men who kidnapped and brutally murdered his wife, the PI soon learns this isn't the first time the killers have committed this sort of twisted crime, nor does he anticipate it to be the last. Blurring the lines between right and wrong, Scudder races to track the deviants through the backstreets of New York City before they kill again.

Frank's hodgepodge tone and style doesn't really lend itself to tight pacing, with Tombstones veering from gripping, suspenseful, at-times unsettling first act to sleepy, erratic second to over-cranked, underwhelming third. Neeson weathers the wibbli-wobbliness well enough, though, and his Scudder is the best thing the film has to offer. Rather than resort to action-driven Taken fisticuffs, or elevating Scudder to nigh-invincible, bullet-dodging superhero, the streetwise ex-cop proceeds like a man acutely aware of his own mortality; a recognition his involvement in Alcoholics Anonymous serves to highlight (albeit to overbearing ends). A tortured soul paying self-imposed penance for a tragic shooting, Neeson's PI is a thinking man's detective; emphasis on detective, piecing together clues, following leads and closing in on the killers without much in the way of shootouts, car chases or 'splosions.

The central mystery, meanwhile, is handled haphazardly, initially cloaking the serial killers in shadow but soon, for no real reason, placing them front and center, with scenes designed to provide insight into their methods and madness but accomplishing no such thing. It's a strange shift that doesn't pan out in any meaningful or intriguing way; a bait-and-switch without the switch that's more jarring than involving. Also scattered across Scudder's investigation is a host of quirky dime-novel supporting players -- an anemic, computer-savvy teen-charity case named TJ (Brian "Astro" Bradley) who's dead-set on becoming Scudder's assistant, a tweaked out heroin addict (Boyd Holbrook) in love with his brother's dead wife, a van full of frat-boy DEA agents, a shady groundskeeper (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson) fascinated with pigeons, and a Russian gangster (Sebastian Roché) with a catatonic wife, a kidnapped daughter, and a heart of gold -- each of whom is given dark, gritty character traits designed to add texture and realism to Block's criminal underworld but resulting only in taking thinly veiled genre caricatures way too seriously.

Worse, any prevailing dread dissolves the moment the killers are revealed. Predictability increases, eeriness decreases, and the film's endgame becomes an of course he's not dead! rundown of crime thriller clichés. Bradley's role simultaneously expands -- TJ is suddenly 8mm's Max California (Joaquin Phoenix) to Scudder's Tom Welles (Nicolas Cage) -- and Neeson's AA 12-Stepping is given a prominence that's more leftfield than his lecturing TJ on the danger of carrying a gun (which is followed by an assault that leaves the now-unarmed TJ in the hospital). And the moral of all the moralizing? Your guess is as good as mine. Tombstones has an undercurrent of self-righteousness without clearly contextualizing the sermon it's preaching. It doesn't amount to a bad movie. There are dozens of poorly conceived, poorly scripted, poorly shot genre pics lining the racks of your local Redbox kiosk, and this isn't one of them. But there are much better crime thrillers too. A Walk Among the Tombstones is a decent Friday night rental I suppose, just dial down your expectations and try to avoid looking for plot holes, leaps in logic and missed opportunities. They're too easy to spot.

A Walk Among the Tombstones Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Thick shadows and impenetrable darkness gives A Walk Among the Tombstones a suitably unsettling crime noir edge, which Universal's 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation embraces with faithful excellence. Black levels are deep and imposing, yet give way to lifelike colors, carefully saturated skintones, and jarring splashes of rusty red. Contrast and clarity are consistent and consistently satisfying too, with razor-wire definition, exacting fine textures, and revealing close-ups. There are a few negligible instances of ringing and some inherent crush, but nothing remotely distracting. Macroblocking, banding, aliasing and other anomalies are MIA as well, leaving nothing but Mihai Malaimare, Jr.'s cold, confident cinematography, as intended.

A Walk Among the Tombstones Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There may not be much action, fist fights or shootouts in A Walk Among the Tombstones, but that doesn't mean Universal's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track is uninvolving or unengaging. LFE output is assertive and nuanced, lending atmospheric weight to suspenseful scenes and the necessary oomph gunshots and other low-end elements require. Rear speaker activity isn't concerned with flash and spectacle either, instead creating a more subtly immersive soundfield that captures the beating heart of Block's New York, the hum of its streets, and the musty air of a kill room. Dialogue is perfectly intelligible and prioritized too, and dynamics are strong (though not exactly remarkable). All told, the film fares as well as expected, without any mishaps or exceptions to report.

A Walk Among the Tombstones Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• A Look Behind the Tombstones (HD, 12 minutes): A standard behind-the-scenes featurette that includes interviews with the filmmakers and cast, along with a glimpse at the production in action, on set.
• Matt Scudder: Private Eye (HD, 6 minutes): In this much too short Blu-ray exclusive extra, author Lawrence Block and screenwriter/director Scott Frank talk about the character of Matt Scudder and the challenges of adapting the private investigator for the screen.

A Walk Among the Tombstones Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There's something to Neeson's Matt Scudder; something I wouldn't mind seeing again in future adaptations of Lawrence Block's crime novels. It's Frank's script that fails the film. Not entirely, but still fundamentally, with more borrowed bits than unconventional stretches and more regurgitation than invention. The third act is particularly disappointing, as A Walk Among the Tombstones falls in step with a hundred other PI thrillers, losing sight of the elements that might have set it apart. Universal's Blu-ray release is better, albeit only in terms of its terrific AV presentation. Unfortunately, with no significant special features, there's little added value to be had. It's worth a rent, though, so start there.