The economical narrative has already established that MacCauley has nothing to fall back on, and so one instantly shares in his devastation at the bad news. After meeting with a young couple at his office-where MacCauley shares the story of how he and his wife lost their savings after the financial crisis of 2008-our hero gets laid off from his job. Within minutes, however, the characters’ stable life is disrupted.
By the end of the sequence, one recognizes the ebb and flow of their marriage and the daily comforts that hold it together. One morning they laugh together, the next they argue, then they appear cool toward each other, and finally they express affection again. In one particularly affecting passage, Collet-Serra and editor Nicolas De Toth cut between several mornings at the train station before MacCauley’s wife (Elizabeth McGovern) drops him off. It’s a clever way of showing how MacCauley’s routine remains basically the same even as little aspects of it change. The filmmakers show his morning routine-waking up, having breakfast with his wife and teenage son, driving to the train station where he boards the commuter line to Manhattan-but with each cut, the story advances days or weeks into the future.
Over the opening credits, Collet-Serra covers roughly a year in the life of Michael MacCauley (Liam Neeson), an ex-cop turned insurance salesman. The Commuter is inspired from its very first sequence.
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I’d be delighted if a more purely enjoyable movie gets released this year. Rather, the narrative operates under a certain dream logic that’s wholly cinematic, and Collet-Serra delivers it with such emotional conviction that one gets absorbed regardless of the obvious plot holes. That the story is wildly implausible doesn’t detract from the immense satisfaction it has to offer. The film features one inspired set piece after another Collet-Serra takes great pleasure in moviemaking, and his enjoyment is infectious. It confirms that Jaume Collet-Serra ( Non-Stop, Run All Night, The Shallows) is one of the best genre directors working today. The Commuter, which is now playing in general release, is top-shelf entertainment, with nail-biting suspense, captivating mystery, and loads of visual imagination.
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Sommelier Series (paid sponsored content).