A Walk Among the Tombstones.

Another movie that does nothing to help the campaign for violence against women, the only time women appear in this films narrative is as murder victims! Although most of the action takes place at the end of the 1990’s the characterisations and attitudes are well and truly based in the 1970’s. The main character is a classic unlicensed Private Eye who does not always follow the rules, you could probable describe him without seeing the film, ex NYPD cop who left the force following a fatal incident in 1991 which changed his life, a tough divorced loner with no ties, alcoholic who regularly attends AA and takes ‘one day at a time’. Matt Scudder has been a gumshoe for 8 years when he is approached to find the killers of the wife of Kenny Kristo a drug trafficker. Scudder agrees to investigate but soon realises that this is not an isolated incident.

Written and directed by Scot Frank and based on the tenth Matt Scudder novel by Lawrence Block, who assisted Scot to adapt the novel for the screen.   A cross between a Nordic thriller and a modern day western with Liam Neeson again cast as a single-minded hard-hitting killer with a heart plays Scudder. At a certain level you can actually enjoy A Walk Among the Tombstones (2014) but you will have to ignore the political incorrectness, its  lack of originality, the plot holes and its far fetched story line which would have you believe that a single private detective can solve a series of female murders with relative ease, whereas the NYPD make a complete dogs dinner of it, still Saturday night cinema would not be the same without this type of movie - or would it?