Memory is a 2022 American action thriller film directed by Martin Campbell from a screenplay by Dario Scardapane. It is based on the novel De Zaak Alzheimer by Jef Geeraerts and is a remake of the novel’s previous adaptation, the Belgian film The Alzheimer Case. The film stars Liam Neeson as an aging hitman with early onset dementia who must go on the run after declining a contract on a young girl; Guy Pearce, Monica Bellucci, Harold Torres, Taj Atwal and Ray Fearon also star.
Memory was theatrically released in the United States on April 29, 2022 by Open Road Films, and received generally mixed reviews from critics.
STORY: Constantly haunted by his morally bankrupt past, contract killer Alex Louis (Liam Neeson) seeks redemption—and maybe a bit more—when a 13 YO loses her life to a sick prostitution ring along US-Mexican border. Her perishing puts big names and their reputations under threat. Adapted for screen from the Belgian novel ‘De Zaak Alzheimer’ (Jan Decleir/ 2003), this crime saga has Liam Neeson’s whole career highlights sprinkled all over it: it’s not ‘not’ exceptional, just too territorial even by his own standards.
Movie Review:
Being elderly and vulnerable on screen—with drooping skin, laboured breath, and an ungainly walk—is feared by many more individuals than they are willing to admit. But not Liam Neeson; the Oscar-nominated actor has reached the pinnacle of his career with neo-noir films like the ‘Taken’ trilogy and ‘Schindler’s List,’ among others. As a result, it may look like Neeson has grown too comfortable with this subgenre, and his unwillingness to go out might come off as lethargic at times.
Neeson’s secretive Alex wants out of his decades-long job as a professional kill guy in Martin Campbell’s ‘Memory.’ “Men like us don’t retire,” his employer croons, a half-hearted attempt to entice him back. He returns to work, with no freeing option in sight. However, the next victim is a little girl, and his suppressed sense of morality rises to the surface. “I don’t kill kids.” “Ask the contract hounds to call it off,” he says in a deathly tone, his stone-cold eyes expressing desperation. For the most part, Neeson plays a traditional action-hero Neeson.
When his newfound moral compass forces him to meet three authority-bashing federal agents: angst-filled Vincent (Guy Pearce), Linda (Taj Atwal), and their unwanted Mexican counterpart Hugo Marquez, the actor’s true work starts (Harold Torres). A morally bankrupt guy suffering from severe Alzheimer’s seeks (and finds) solace in the gentle arms of genre veteran Liam Neeson. In all honesty, despite the song’s overuse, this character-driven picture had something its predecessors didn’t: a raw, wounded Hollywood celebrity on the verge of retirement.
Speaking of age-appropriate mannerisms, acing the adage of a corporate honcho-turned-child trafficking racketeer is the orgasmic-toned Monica Belluci, as Davana Sealman. The Italian bella signora commands attention with her timid mein and a wardrobe that screams of dark elegance. Touché!
Granted, all those scorching filmmaking instincts—the cinematic high—that filmmakers love screaming about in order to weave a masterpiece out of a foreign story have been brushed aside in Campbell’s ‘Memory.’ The little girl in question may have elicited a wide spectrum of feelings from the quadruplets’ hearts, but with so little time spent with her, it’s a bit difficult to swallow their unshakable commitment to revenge her murder. Sure, the past provides ample justification for such mayhem, but when has a film been considered relevant only on the basis of random flashbacks?
‘Memory’ is an adequate reminder of the anti-hero-romanticism track that Liam Neeson has glamourised in Hollywood over the past few decades. In it, though, he allows decay and honesty to take over pseudo-machismo. And that memory will forever be etched in our minds.