'Memory' Review: Ironically, It Won’t Take Long to Forget This Film
Liam Neeson’s career trajectory is worthy of a film school seminar. As a younger actor, he was never averse to action-focused films, but they were usually a sideshow to his dramatic performances. The older he gets, however, the more that pendulum has swung in the opposite direction. Nowadays, he is known for his gritty, nihilistic action films. Memory is the latest in that long line.
Alex Lewis (Neeson) is an aging hitman who’s struggling with the early onset of Alzheimer’s. One day, he is given a lucrative contract which includes killing an underage victim of sex trafficking. When he realizes this, Lewis refuses to carry out the hit. Already the film’s inconsistencies begin to show; is Lewis a man with morals or not? This line in the moral sand is an interesting one for him to draw, given that we first see him in the hospital room of a bedridden woman, and Lewis end up strangling her son to death as she can only look on in horror. Either way, Lewis’ defiance of course means that he can expect nothing but trouble, as the hit is carried out without him, and he becomes the target. Fuelled by self-righteous anger and hindered by his worsening condition, Lewis embarks on a one-man crusade against the people for whom he would normally work. This also draws the attention of the law; FBI agent Vincent (Guy Pearce) leads a task force against those guilty of trafficking the aforementioned girl, and they end up chasing after Lewis once his body count overlaps with their list of suspects.
Memory is certainly ambitious, touching on a variety of subjects such as child abuse, sex trafficking, injustice, corruption, and the struggles of a man who is losing control of himself. The problem is that these themes have been covered before in better films, even the case of the aging hitman with Alzheimer’s. On top of that, the twists in this thriller are easily predictable if you’ve seen even a dozen other thrillers in your life. Of course, unoriginality doesn’t have to be bad on its own, but Memory isn’t even comfortable or interesting with these familiar tropes, and what is even more shocking, not the least bit entertaining even with genuinely talented actors playing them. Almost as if the cast knew the weakness of the script, and gave it the appropriate amount of energy to simply collect their paycheque and move on.
Vincent, the FBI agent could have been played by anyone, and even a seasoned thespian like Pearce can only do so much with the material he is given as the character is bland and uninspired. Ray Fearon plays a lead FBI agent, and throughout the movie, he’s simply stuck keeping the same scowl on his face the entire time, showing no nuance or range whatsoever. Ray Stevenson plays an amalgam of every corrupt policeman ever put on film or television, and not even Monica Belucci can do anything to make the rich business tycoon she plays into a memorable figure.
Admittedly, it’s not all bad news. The film was directed by Martin Campbell, who knows how to make an action thriller look good. And for all that the script fails its cast, the actors find moments to show their worth. Neeson in particular works wonders with his quiet scenes; just look at the scene where Alex visits a relative whose mental state has deteriorated, and can’t even speak. What makes this worse for Alex is that he is gazing at his own future, and Neeson effortlessly conveys grief and fear with a single look. In fact, I’d say that Neeson is trying his damnedest with this part, and while his action scenes leave something to be desired, I never doubted his performance as a grizzled killer trying to find some kind of justice in the world. I just wish that the film had lived up to the sum of the talent of those who made it.
It is worth pointing out that Memory is an adaptation of a well-regarded Belgian crime film, which is itself an adaptation of a book entitled De zaak Alzheimer. Both previous works were held in some regard, which undoubtedly inspired the ‘Hollywood’ remake monster to grab hold of the property. While the subject matter of the film could have been something thrilling, edgy or entertaining, it becomes abundantly clear, when adapting the story from its Belgian roots… Something must have gotten lost in the translation.