Over a decade on from launching his action-movie persona, Neeson once again finds himself on the rampage, this time to save a nice little love story
Liam Neeson was 56 when Taken came out in 2008, launching his vengeful vigilante phase. Twelve years on, he’s still churning out serviceable action thrillers like this one, despite that screen persona spilling over into a controversial 2019 interview. Neeson stars as Tom, the honest thief of the title, also known – much to his irritation – as the In-and-Out Bandit. Tom’s late-in-life bank-robbing spree has netted him $9m, but he decides to go straight for the love of a good woman called Annie (Kate Walsh), and that’s when the trouble starts. Tom and Annie are just two divorcees in cosy knitwear, trying to make a go of things, but Tom’s good intentions fall foul of a pair of corrupt
FBI agents, Nivens (Jai Courtney) and Hall (Anthony Ramos), who decide to take the money and frame him for murder. That means Tom must make use of whatever weapons he has at his disposal – fists, guns, explosives, cupcake delivery trucks – to get the truth out.