Director: Hans Petter Moland
Starring: Liam Neeson, Ron Perlman
Running Time: 112 minutes
Synopsis: In Boston, Thug (Liam Neeson) is an aging underworld enforcer working for gang boss Charlie Connor (Ron Perlman). A former boxer, Thug is suffering memory lapses and is diagnosed with incurable chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). He tries to repair a long-broken relationship with his daughter Daisy, creates a bond with his grandson Dre, and starts a new romance. Thug does not get along with Charlie's son Kyle (Daniel Diemer), and his disillusionment worsens when he learns about the cargo being transported by gangs between New York and Boston.
What Works Well: In this soaked character study, Liam Neeson delivers a grizzled, lived-in performance as a low-level goon exceeding his best-by date. Director Hans Petter Moland creates an end-of-the-road mood of despair filled with too many regrets and not enough time, but Thug will nonetheless attempt to make up for past errors, many of them passed on from previous generations. The dream sequences with Thug's father are a nice touch, and the few action scenes are welcome exclamation points within a book-of-life's last chapter.
What Does Not Work As Well: The emotional tone is only ever sombre or downbeat, and the pacing is excessively ponderous. Thug is surrounded by plenty of secondary characters (daughter, grandson, boss, boss' son, new lover, other gangsters and their victims), all of them genuine but none of them progressing beyond basic definitions.
Key Quote:
Dre: Mom said you were in prison. What for?
Thug: Not walking away.
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