For the second consecutive week, I’m reviewing something that most people probably don’t know is a remake of a foreign film. Cold Pursuit is a remake of the 2014 Norwegian film titled In Order of Disappearance and, unlike Miss Bala, it sticks so close to the original film that it really doesn’t even need to exist. Actually, the new Miss Bala also doesn’t need to exist either, but for different reasons. Regardless, whether you are watching the American or Norwegian version, Cold Pursuit is a solid action/comedy that’s probably not what you are expecting.
Liam Neeson works in Colorado as a snow plow driver whose sole responsibility is to plow one stretch of road repeatedly throughout the winter. Neeson’s son is killed by drug dealers and he does exactly what Liam Neeson always does in such a situation: he starts killing the shit out of people. His actions cause a gang war and things spiral out of control. Come to think of it, this is the second week in a row that I’ve reviewed a remake of a foreign film about drug-dealing gangs. 2019 has been an oddly specific year so far.
I had pretty clear expectations when I sat down to watch this. I’ve watched people fuck with Liam Neeson’s family so many times that it’s pretty routine at this point. However, I was pleasantly surprised with this one. The plot itself is the standard fare that Neeson has been making ever since Taken became a big hit, but the tone of the film is more quirky than usual. Simply put, this movie is pretty damn weird. Cold Pursuit is basically what would happen if Taken took place in the world of something like Fargo or Pulp Fiction, but Neeson’s character isn’t in on the joke. While he plays it straight, everyone around him seems to have wondered in from a Tarantino film. I honestly wasn’t even sure if it was intentionally funny at first; some jokes take a long time to have a punchline (including the last shot of the film, which made me laugh out loud) and some characters are played more straight than others. But once I settled into the idea that this is more of a black comedy than an action film, I had a lot of fun with it.
If you don’t mind reading subtitles, you could just watch this movie at home right now, though. Cold Pursuit is nearly a shot-for-shot remake of In Order of Disappearance and the films even share the same director (Hans Petter Moland). Aside from one change (the Serbian gang in the original is replaced with Native Americans here), they basically just filmed the same script twice with different casts. If this is Moland’s way of breaking into Hollywood, then I won’t criticize him for that. But it’s sad that the original couldn’t just be released into theaters here because Americans don’t like subtitles. Plus, Neeson’s character is played by the equally-awesome Stellan Skarsgård in the original. You would probably remember him best as the professor in Good Will Hunting.
This film walks a very fine line between serious and goofy and both the director and the actors deserve credit for keeping it from tipping over. Other than both versions of this, I haven’t seen any of Moland’s other films, but this could have easily been a trainwreck if handled less delicately and I plan to check out his other work. Neeson is his usual self, but also has a strong supporting cast to work off of (including Laura Dern and the always badass William Forsythe). Possibly the biggest standout, though, is Tom Bateman as the fucking whacko main bad guy. Bateman doesn’t look familiar to me, but he plays this character like he’s in an 80s Charles Bronson movie. Just as Neeson’s character doesn’t seem to know that he’s in a comedy, this guy seems to be in a borderline parody. Again, that doesn’t sound like it would work, but it somehow does.
Much like something like Reservoir Dogs or Fargo, this movie is hard to describe. Merely summarizing the plot makes it sound like a violent drama or action film, but it really isn’t. It is violent and, like those films, doesn’t pull punches in that regard. But also like those films, it’s comedic in a way that isn’t overtly comedic, if that makes any sense. Cold Pursuit isn’t in the same class as those films, but the comparison is a good way to determine if you are the audience for this or not. If you like early Tarantino and Coen Brothers films, then I recommend either Cold Pursuit or In Order of Disappearance, depending on your tolerance for subtitles.
Image By: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_Pursuit#/media/File:Cold_Pursuit_poster.jpg
