Australia Pinch-Hits for D.C.
Although shot in Canberra and Melbourne, Australia, “Blacklight” is set in Washington, D.C. and revolves around Travis Block (Neeson), a “subcontractor” doing black-op work for his Vietnam vet buddy Gabriel Robinson (Aidan Quinn), who is also the current director of the F.B.I. Travis’s latest assignment is reeling in Dusty Crane (Taylor John Smith), an agent that has gone off of the reservation.
After the hit-and-run murder of his office-seeking, left-leaning politician girlfriend Sofia Flores (Mel Jarnson), the already jittery Dusty understandably thinks he will be next on the hit list. Perhaps going about it the wrong way, Dusty connects with Mira Jones (Emmy Raver-Lampman), a budding local journalist who is beyond psyched that she can help expose the covert F.B.I. “Operation Unity” operation.
A loyal company man to the core, Travis tries his best to reason with Dusty and Mira by telling them essentially, in a mildly threatening manner, it is in their collective best interest to keep mum. This advice falls on deaf ears and, if anything, makes Dusty even more paranoid and Mira all the more curious.
Family Matters
Always lurking in the margins are Travis’s daughter Amanda (Claire van der Boom) and beyond-adorable granddaughter Natalie (Gabriella Sengos). Still resentful that Travis’s workaholic ways led to her mother leaving, Amanda continues to maintain emotional distance from her father which in turn makes his relationship with Natalie so tenuous and fragile that even the toddler can figure out something’s not right.
“Blacklight” is the third feature from longtime TV and B-movie producer Mark Williams (“Ozark,” “In Exile,” “The Choir”) and it is by far his best effort to date—“best” meaning it’s the least bad. Co-written by Williams and first-timer Nick May (based on a story by May and Brandon Reavis), the movie is a veritable cliché festival. In addition to the pyrotechnics, high-speed chases (including one with a garbage truck), whiplash editing, and gunfire exchanges which defy the laws of probability and physics, the dialogue is boiler-plate and clunky and, depending on what you’re looking for, is right up Neeson’s alley.
An actor of decent depth and range, Neeson is wasting his time and is frittering away his career in low rent roles such as this, which are usually earmarked for any of the many cast members of the “The Expendables” franchise. His career trajectory is essentially the parallel universe version to that of Clint Eastwood. The latter started out doing far better action fare (the “Man with no Name” trilogy, “Pale Rider,” “Dirty Harry”) and eventually drifted into prestige pictures which netted his distributor (Warner Brothers) decent profits and (for him) numerous industry accolades, including four Academy Awards.
Glimmers of Hope Remain
Action and adventure hasn’t been Neeson’s sole source of roles over the last two decades. Every once in a while he does something interesting (“Kinsey,” “The Chronicles of Narnia” franchise, “Chloe,” “A Monster Calls”) but action has become his stock-in-trade. One has to wonder how much longer a septuagenarian actor can convincingly go toe-to-toe and vanquish ripped thugs young enough to be his grandchildren.When compared to other senior citizen guys in almost the same boat (Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Willis, and so on), Neeson is doing pretty well. He’s got two more action flicks in the can (“Memory,” “Retribution”) and will be playing title character Philip Marlowe in the noir thriller “Marlowe” to be released next year. Neeson is still in demand and I for one couldn’t be happier for him. The idea of a 69-year-old man being the most bankable action star in the 20th century was a laughable impossibility. Now it’s the new normal.
What does gnaw at me to no end is the idea of an actor of such talent, appeal, and presence choosing to offer us up $1.00 greasy burgers when he could easily be wowing us with prime-cut, bone-in rib-eyes.
Comme ci, comme ça.
