Vengeance, Real and Imagined: On Liam Neeson, ‘Cold Pursuit,’ and When Farce Goes Wrong

Back in September 2018, Bill Simmons and Shea Serrano used the Rewatchablespodcast to examine the revolution that was the 2008 film Taken. According to them, what made this revenge thriller so special was first and foremost its casting of Liam Neeson as the vengeful father, on the hunt for the criminals who kidnapped his daughter in Paris when all she wanted to do was see U2 live in concert. Better known in the ’80s and ’90s for playing sensitive lovers and heartbroken dads, Neeson became an unlikely action hero and never looked back.