Cold Pursuit

Actors: Liam Neeson, Laura Dern, Emmy Rossum, William Forsythe, Tom Bateman

Rating: 7 out of 10, This was kind of a strange combination of action, revenge and dark humor. It never rose to the level of being a true dark comedy but had its moments. It would have been fun to see what the Coen brothers would have done with this material but I’m not certain Neeson would have been right for that. He plays a Rocky Mountain snow plow driver whose son is murdered by a smarmy Denver drug cartel. He sets about revenge by killing his way to the top even though he doesn’t have any discernible skills in that department. He proves a quick learner and is soon depositing bodies into picturesque mountain locales. The movie is all over the place with subplots involving a rival Native American drug cartel and a totally inept police department. Neeson delivers his usual amount of heart and gravitas but Laura Dern, as his wife, is criminally underused. There was some truly impressive camera work capturing the stark beauty of the Rockies. In the end, after thinking about it (which I shouldn’t have had to) I liked this.

MVP: Forsythe in a very small part as Neeson’s brother

The Kid Who Would Be King

Actors: Louis Ashbourne Serkis, Tom Taylor, Rebecca Ferguson, Patrick Stewart

Rating: 7 out of 10, This was the Goonies updated and inserted into the Arthurian legend. There was no way this should have been as entertaining and enjoyable for an old fart like me but it certainly was. I think it’s every kid’s dream to find Excalibur sticking out of a stone and being the only one able to pull it out before setting out on an adventure fighting the forces of resurgent ancient evil. If not, it should be. This film grabbed me from the beginning and didn’t lose its grip until the slightly overdone finale. The young actors deserve all the credit as Gollum’s kid proves to be an able actor in his own right and the multi-cultural group of friends form a very real seeming dynamic. A nice little surprise of a movie that works.

MVP: Serkis as Alexander and once and future Arthur