"And, in an unbelievable twist..."

Rating: 6/10 (20 June 2015)

Liam Neeson doesn't really act anymore--he performs, and that's not the same thing, particularly when he's constantly engaged in brawls (edited for maximum impact) or giving faux-impassioned speeches of the 'you have to trust me' variety. Screenwriters John W. Richardson, Chris Roach and Ryan Engle invariably understand if you call an action movie "Non-Stop" it better have non-stop action, and this one does. Neeson plays a distraught, withdrawn, alcoholic U.S. Air Marshal on a flight from New York to London who discovers there's a hijacker aboard the plane--one who is cleverly mounting an airtight case against Neeson as a purveyor of justice. Despite an overly-familiar feel to the scenario, the rampant suspicion and paranoia of the piece easily gnaws at the viewer, aided and abetted by the shameless director, Jaume Collet-Serra, and the scenarists, who even give us a good-natured New York cop with a busted nose and a frightened child clutching a symbolic ribbon of hope! The plot-holes and glaring implausibilities predictably stack up, yet the intensity of the disparate personalities in this confined space high in the air works the audience over smoothly until we are putty in the filmmakers' hands. Julianne Moore is a pithy, salt-of-the-earth type who makes a good drinking buddy for Neeson (no romantic sparks), while our hero makes enough snap assessments so right on the money that he doesn't even have any explaining to do at the finale. He and the audience both come out smiling. **1/2 from ****