A Walk Among The Tombstones (2014 Audience Choice)

September 24, 2025·1 hr 7 min·5 clips

Why did listeners choose the obscure Liam Neeson thriller 'A Walk Among the Tombstones' over his blockbuster hits?

1. Awesome Movie Year revisits the 2014 film A Walk Among the Tombstones, starring Liam Neeson as unlicensed private eye Matthew Scudder. 2. Josh Bell, a film critic and writer, hosts alongside Jason Harris, a filmmaker and comedian, with a third voice, Dave, also participating. 3. The episode's core question is whether A Walk Among the Tombstones stands as a legitimate high point in Liam Neeson's unlikely action career, and why it failed to launch a franchise. 4. The film was chosen through a listener poll in the Popcorn and Puzzle Pieces Facebook group, beating out Nonstop and Taken 3, both of which are more widely known. 5. A Walk Among the Tombstones is based on the 10th novel in Lawrence Block's Matthew Scudder series; Block is described as 87 years old and still writing, with over 100 books published. 6. The film was in development for over a decade — originally set for 2003 with Harrison Ford as Scudder and Joe Carnahan directing — before Scott Frank took over and made it his second feature after The Lookout (2007). 7. Scott Frank showed the film to Steven Soderbergh, who advised him the editing did not match the shooting style; they spent three weeks re-editing together and cut approximately 20 minutes. 8. The box office result was $62.1 million against a production budget of $23-28 million, which the hosts describe as not a failure but not a hit sufficient to greenlight a sequel. 9. Critics were divided: Manohla Dargis in the New York Times called it 'intelligent pulp' but noted women in the film are 'little more than meat'; Frank Sheck in the Hollywood Reporter praised Neeson's 'world weary gravitas' and the film's 'retro film noir vibe.' 10. Ann Hornaday in the Washington Post criticised the violent finale as undermining the film's more restrained first two acts, and the hosts partially agree the ending is drawn out. 11. The hosts note the film has almost no speaking female characters; they attribute this partly to Lawrence Block's 1992 source novel and partly to editing decisions that cut a subplot featuring Ruth Wilson as a former female colleague of Scudder's. 12. Josh Bell argues that Liam Neeson's later action films suffer because their entire budgets go to Neeson, leaving no money for quality supporting actors — a problem A Walk Among the Tombstones avoids. 13. David Harbour, then a little-known character actor, plays the lead serial killer and is described as 'super creepy,' particularly in phone call scenes threatening drug dealers whose wives or daughters he has kidnapped. 14. Dan Stevens, fresh from Downton Abbey, plays the Russian drug dealer who hires Scudder; Josh Bell compares him to Alessandro Nivola and Barry Pepper in Twenty Fifth Hour. 15. Jason Harris singles out Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, who plays the cemetery caretaker and is described as a celebrated Icelandic actor from the Nordic noir series Trapped. 16. All three hosts criticise the TJ teenage sidekick subplot, agreeing it adds unnecessary delays to the finale; Josh Bell speculates TJ may have been kept to appeal to younger audiences, noting the actor had appeared on The X Factor. 17. The episode is a discursive, enthusiastic conversation between three film fans, with regular tangents into broader Neeson filmography, Scott Frank's Netflix limited series work (Queen's Gambit, Godless), and Joseph Gordon-Levitt's career trajectory. 18. Tone is casual and opinionated, with the hosts frequently contradicting each other on small points and expressing genuine affection for the film despite its flaws. 19. This episode will appeal to fans of 2010s Liam Neeson action films, noir cinema, or listeners interested in why certain genre films develop cult followings after modest initial releases. 20. Listeners uninterested in Liam Neeson specifically or in extended discussion of a single film's casting and production history may find the pace slow.

As heard by us

A listener-voted Liam Neeson pick that clicks most when Josh Bell and Jason Harris start needling each other over it.

Awesome Movie Year ends its 2014 run on A Walk Among the Tombstones, the listener-voted Liam Neeson pick that edged out Non-Stop and Taken 3. Josh Bell and Jason Harris use it to open up a wider discussion of this part of Neeson action cinema, with Josh giving the setup and…

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Choose this when you want the least obvious Liam Neeson pick.

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