Even if you’re a major fan of Liam Neeson’s action movies, there’s a high chance you’ve missed some of the titles in his extensive genre catalog. From Taken to The Grey, we’ve seen the Oscar-nominated performer take on just about every action trope imaginable, and though he just turned 74, he’s showing no signs of stopping. One of his best action thrillers is currently available to stream for free, but we’re sorry to say you only have a few days left to catch it before it disappears for the forseeable future.
Just Leave Liam Neeson Alone!
In The Commuter, Neeson plays the kind of character we’ve seen him play dozens of times. They’re either retired, close to retirement, or just tired dudes with a past that will come in handy in any dangerous predicament. This time around, he’s Michael MacCauley, a former police officer who’s on his way home after a horrible day at work. The insurance company he works for has just laid him off, and he’s on his way to let his family know the terrible news.
However, MacCauley is about to face another challenge. A woman named Joanna says he can make money by finding a passenger who’s carrying something she stole. If he accepts, he will find $25,000 in one of the train’s bathrooms, and then be paid $75,000 when he finds the mysterious passenger. Michael takes the money and tries to leave without knowing it wasn’t his decision to accept the mission. Apparently, someone is watching him, and is willing to harm his family if he doesn’t complete the mission.
The Commuter was released by Lionsgate in 2018, grossing nearly $120 million against a production budget of $30 million. The reception wasn’t exactly great — the film earned a 55% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes. Many criticized the formulaic plot, with critic Brent McKnight writing the following for The Last Thing I See: “There are much better movies that more or less do the same thing, and while it’s not a fully satisfying meal, if you’re in the mood for the cinematic equivalent of a salty snack full of empty calories, you can do worse than The Commuter.” The audience score is significantly lower, at 40%, and user RT68631038 perhaps summed it up best when writing, “Fairy tales for a narrow-minded audience from narrow-minded filmmakers.”
As mentioned above, you only have a few days until it departs from streaming. The film is currently available for free on Pluto TV, but per the site’s “Leaving Soon” section, that won’t be the case for long. The streamer doesn’t confirm exact dates for exiting titles, but it often happens at the start of the month, which means it could be as soon as August 1.
The Winning Neeson-Collet-Serra Formula
Before landing big projects like Black Adam and Carry-On, Jaume Collet-Serra was mostly focused on horror, with House of Wax and Orphan among his earliest Hollywood projects. The director then saw potential in expanding his career by collaborating with Neeson to deliver some of the most thrilling movies in modern action.
They’ve collaborated on four films: Unknown, Non-Stop, Run All Night, and The Commuter. Since then, Collet-Serra has established himself in the studio system, while Neeson has continued a solid run in action films with other filmmakers.
