Cold Pursuit

Cold Pursuit was released in the opening weeks of 2019, and with Liam Neeson headlining another film where he must go toe to toe with a criminal organization, it was already clear that this was a genre he was most familiar with. Neeson now has a habit of playing a family man whose family is in some kind of crisis regarding their various bonds and ability to communicate with one another, only to be thrust into a dangerous, untenable situation. Whether the members of his family survive or their relationships thrive is never the same – sometimes they live, sometimes they die. Sometimes, they can grow as people and redefine their familial ties, or they can sever them completely. No two films feel the same despite having so many similar beats.

Cold Pursuit follows an interesting path and uses several elements to convey its story uniquely and entertainingly. The characters, however brief many of their roles might be, come to life in this thrilling story on the cycle of revenge. Whether it comes from one’s glaring incompetence, lack of loyalty, or mere arrogance, the situation devolves from the murder of one innocent young man to the disastrous collapse of two criminal organizations and three communities, all the while threatening to eviscerate a small, peaceful community on the outskirts of Denver. A cold war has been brewing between Trevor “Viking” Calcote (Tom Bateman) and his drug dealing empire and White Bull Legrew (Tom Jackson) and his drug dealing empire – creatively derived as a race war between white Americans and brown Native Americans. This stems from a previously unseen but carefully explained conflict and resolution between White Bull and Viking’s father.

In the mix is the local police department of Kehoe, a ski town that acts as a satellite of Denver, where the main road is covered in a mountain of snow and must be plowed nearly every day. This is the job that Nels Coxman has been doing for decades. Emmy Rossum and John Doman star as Kim Dash and John “Gip” Gipsky, Kim’s older and more seasoned partner. The pair find themselves thrown into the chaotic turf war, spurned on by Nels’ sloppy bid for revenge for Kyle’s murder. With tensions already high between each group, moves are made without proper consultation, resulting in the untimely murder of White Bull’s only son, Simon “Baby Hawk” Legrew (Kyle Nobess). Viking and his entire organization executed Baby Hawk without ever learning who he was, all to send a message to White Bull. That message was received loud and clear, and the war spiraled out of control as both groups vied for domination. Nels’ life begins to fall apart as he devotes more and more of his energy to his own cold pursuit of revenge.

This movie does not shy away from dragging out scenes, most poignantly displayed when things are lifted into view, such as during Kyle’s identification. This highlights the unnerving awkwardness of the scene and forces the audience to sit through one of the most painful experiences a parent can go through. Also, almost the entire cast has nicknames, and Nels is not above questioning the strangeness of it all. We are also treated to an interesting intercut between scenes when a character is confirmed to have died – with a symbol appearing above them marking their ties to an organization or a religion.

For that reason, a slew of supporting characters are present. From Viking’s crew, Mustang (Domenick Lombardozzi) is Viking’s most senior enforcer, who executes all of Viking’s orders flawlessly while maintaining a close, friendly relationship with Viking’s son Ryan. He is also revealed to be in a secret relationship with Tycho “Dexter” Hammel (Benjamin Hollingsworth), who is always eager to ask questions and attempt to work through their organization’s issues. Michael Eklund, Bradly Stryker, and Michael Adamthwaite play Steve “Speedo” Milliner, Jacob “Limbo” Rutman, and Jeff “Santa” Christensen, respectively, and are the initial targets that Nels hits, which leads to the ultimate conflict between Viking and White Bull in the first place. David O’Hara, Ben Cotton, and Gus Halper star as Timothy “Windex” Denois, Gallum “Sly” Ferrante, and Anton “Bone” Dinckel, who appear throughout the film to fill out the ranks.

For White Bull, we are introduced to a myriad of his top associates, including Ameet “Shiv” Anand (Christopher Logan), Giles “Thorpe” Wills (Raoul Trujillo), Fredrick “Smoke” Alycott (Nathaniel Arcand), Clement “Avalanche” Skenadore (Mitchell Saddleback), and Duane “War Dog” Michell (Glen Gould). They build out his immediate entourage, who accompany him into his war with Viking. Another member of his group is Minya (Manna Nichols), a secretary at their headquarters, who delivers one of the most hilarious lines when she orders them to have the Indian (an actual man from India in their organization) clean up a corpse in their base – the aforementioned Shiv.

On a more personal level, there is Brock “Wingman” Coxman (William Forsythe a), a relative of Nels’ who was deeply involved in the organization Viking runs, though under Viking’s father. His wife, Ahn (Elizabeth Thai), is introduced as having been a target for elimination by Brock, who ends up marrying her instead. Their relationship is played out as hot and cold, but it is clear that they love one another deeply.

The relationships between the characters seem to start out strong but become increasingly frayed as we become privy to the varying intricacies that exist. In its simplistic realization, the breakdown of Nels’ marriage to Grace (Laura Dern) is especially heartbreaking and frustrating. It is often said that a marriage collapses in the wake of a child’s death, but the context of Kyle’s death accelerates that breakdown, and Grace is in no mood to stick around by the point that Nels has any kind of clue as to what actually happened. Her pain and grief drove her from the film almost as quickly as she had shown up.

Contrast this with Trevor Calcote’s relationship with his ex-wife and the mother of his son, Aya (Julia Jones). The pair vehemently despise one another, and even when it comes to their son, Ryan Calcote (Nicholas Holmes), the viciousness and pettiness that they display to one another is second to known – with only Aya managing to show any kind of genuine affection and concern for their son’s actual wellbeing. It is quite interesting that, at no point does Aya do anything to diminish Trevor in front of Ryan, despite how much she clearly wishes to wash her hands off him from both of their lives. Many will recognize Aya from her time in Twilight as Leah Clearwater. I know I was gleeful to see her portray another strong woman who refused to take a backseat to the men around her, regardless of how much more powerful they may have thought they were.

Cold Pursuit is a quick, darkly humorous revenge film with swift, bloody kills delivered by various characters. The dark humor is expressed numerous times as characters build and break alliances left, right, and center. Despite the grim nature of the film, it plays into that dark humor, allowing itself to exist in the darkness of its plot while not leaving its audience too depressed. It strikes a careful balance, proving why Liam Neeson can continually make films in this vein.