“Time Trial”: Liam Neeson Ditching the Punches and Using His Wits in a Thriller That Delivers | REVIEW

Twenty years ago, the then young Irish actor Colin Farrell toured the world playing Stuard Shepard, a publicist jerk who, after entering a telephone booth to call his lover Pamela McFadden (also very young Katie Holmes) makes the mistake to turn to the cubicle and answer an unknown call. In the headset, a psychopath begins to blackmail him, revealing some aspects that only he thought he knew about his life.

“Deadly Link”, however, is not just a suffocating dialogue between the extortionist and the extorted in the middle of any street in a New York already at that time (we presume the beginning of the two thousand) full of migrants, pimps, prostitutes and pizza delivery men . As the perp (voiced by Kiefer Sutherland) infuriates Stu (Farrell) with his most intimate revelations and forces him to revisit each of his past mistakes, the laser/sight of his rifle, wielded from somewhere, is pointed at him at the same time. of the hundreds of windows inside any of the buildings located in front of the telephone booth.

That feeling of fear that Joel Schumacher’s thriller was able to generate very well came to mind this weekend when we saw “time trial” (“Retribution” or “Vengeance”, according to its original title), the most recent film by Liam Neeson which has in the direction of Nimród Antal. It is a remake of the Spanish film “El desconocido” (2015) by Dani de la Torre.

“Time Trial” tells the story of Matt Turner, a seasoned investment banker based in Berlin who seems to have everything going for him. A luxurious house, a beautiful car, two children of school age and a nice wife. That is the first thing that Antal’s tape tries to make clear to us. The second is, of course, a first sight of what we could call a broken family relationship, apparently, because our protagonist has put his work above all else.

Matt can’t ask his daughter Emily (Lilly Aspell) for something without turning off the tablet where she is entertaining herself. He also can’t ask his son Zach (Jack Champion) for anything without yelling at him. And when he has to agree to a request made by his wife, he always has a way around it. But as happens with many of the people who put work before family, sometimes we don’t even realize the mistake until something explodes in our faces.

On more than one occasion we have commented that with more than 70 years behind us, Liam Neeson He is no more that action hero who, using punches, keys and well-aimed shots, makes us stay glued to the cinema seat. And although the temptation to see him subdue rivals of all sizes is latent, “Time Trial” quickly makes it clear that this time our wishes will not be satisfied. Because, although he wakes up practicing boxing in a room in his house, Matt Turner is certainly the closest thing to an old man. The loss of hair, the gray hair, the stoop of his back, and the difficulty running up the stairs attest to this.

But, come on, even though between that success that transcended time entitled “Relentless Search” and 15 years have passed today, no one would doubt that throughout all this time we have witnessed the honest attempt of an artist to remain current in a industry where every month a new face is put to the test. And although he has lost speed, his pronunciation is somewhat slower, and the complicity of a double is essential to him on occasions, the true fans of Liam Neeson we always come back to him perhaps because that way –inadvertently wanting to– we pay tribute to that indelible memory of Bryan Mills (the protagonist of the “Relentless Search” saga). Along these lines, many of us have searched for something of that character in “Non-Stop”, “Risk Below Zero”, The Passenger”, “Black Light”, “One Night to Survive”, “The Protector” and, more recently, “Murderer”. without memory”, among others.

Returning to the plot of “Time Trial”, on an unusual morning taking his children to school, Matt Turner receives several calls. One of these, however, will change everything. Someone informs him that there is a bomb under his car seat, ready to go off if he tries to get out. What seemed to be the typical trip of a father worried about business and not his children who are behind him (each one also attached to their respective cell phone), turns into a race against time. Our protagonist must do everything that the person on the other end of the phone tells him.

Set in Berlin, this film by Nimród Antal has more strengths than weaknesses. It is clear that Matt Turner will spend 95% of the film subjected to a madman who threatens him by telephone (here the memory of the sensation generated by “Deadly Link” jumps out) while he reproaches him for his past mistakes. As the alleged terrorist becomes known, a series of attacks against people linked to Turner will put the city on alert. The successive explosions and deaths correctly feed the thriller. Now, if we talk about the human factor, the twists and turns are notorious. Because of course, we are aware that there is a broken family relationship, but the script cares almost nothing about developing these wounded ties. There the tape loses. In this last path we can also mention perhaps secondary details (if at some point they say “I’m seeing you” to Matt, why finally there are no cameras in the car?).

There is an interesting moment in the dramatic, but that was never sought to be further exploited. We return to the telephone that (easily) can be ‘mutated’ without the villain noticing or getting upset: our protagonist finds out that his wife is filing a divorce behind her back. There is a breaking point here that also makes us evoke “Deadly Link” (Stuart must confess to his lover that he is married and then listens as the extortionist reveals to her wife that he is cheating on her). In both films we have, then, a guy punished by the weight of his actions who, after seeing himself at a limit moment, must revisit his steps and come to his senses.

Although the subject is treated as a possible thread of terrorist attacks, the German police led by Angela Brickmann (Noma Dumezweni) are quite meticulous (or perhaps slow) in their behavior. At the risk of making a mistake, we could say that not a single shot is fired to contain the vehicle that Turner is driving. Although the detail loses weight when our protagonist changes the course of events: “You hurt my daughter, damn. You want the money, you need me. I’ll help my daughter first,” Matt warns the extortionist. From here the tape is much more like any of the Neeson films mentioned above. The banker will seek revenge by driving a van at full speed through the streets of Berlin.

“Time Trial” is definitely not the best of the movies starring Liam Neeson. His plot, at times somewhat light, can be deciphered quickly. Although in all honesty, the few times that the dramatic is appealed to, the story improves. The same if we evaluate the role of our protagonist: unbeatable as the ‘hero dad’ who is willing to exploit the world in order to save those close to him. That part of the equation is the best, and it will surely leave us wanting to see the next film by this tireless titan of commercial cinema.

TIME TRIAL/ ONLY CINEMAS

Director: Nimrod Antal

Synopsis: While driving his children to school, a bank executive receives a threat that his car will explode if they stop and get out.

Cast: Noma Dumezweni, Lilly Aspell, Jack Champion, Matthew Modine, Embeth Davidtz.

Qualification: 3 out of 5

fefe