I Watch Films: Absolution

 

Absolution

Liam Neeson plays a former boxer and current gangster who works for Boston crime boss Charlie Connor (Ron Perlman) who operates out of mattress warehouse. He’s sent to back up Kyle Connor, Charlie’s son. Going to a doctor who sells them drugs he mentions he has memory problems, and the doctor suggests he gets it checked out. It turns out he has brain damage from too many blows to the head and this is progressive; he has months of functionality at best.

In a bar he meets a woman after beating up her abusive boyfriend; they start a relationship. He tries to reconnect with his daughter and grandson, but the daughter is not interested, not now, not after all these years.

He has dreams about his father, dreams of them fishing on a boat.

Kyle is keen to learn about the trade but takes against Liam Neeson. Kyle doesn’t have the reputation, doesn’t have the aura of menace. He wants to look in the van at one point. It turns out they’re trafficking women.

Liam Neeson (his character is never named) knows he’s going to die, going to lose his mind, though he tries to conceal it from everyone around him. (He does a terrible job of this). Can he find some sort of absolution? Or is it just going to be violence and crime and lies to the end.

Watch This: Gangster fights and threatens, is much cooler than the younger generation of gangster, reaches for something better
Don’t Watch This: Oh, so now you want to make up for the sex trafficking