Matt Scudder (Liam Neeson) is a retired New York City ex-cop. Eight years ago, in 1991, he was considered a hero for stopping three armed men all on his own, while off-duty. But an unfortunate incident civilian casualty from his actions caused him to reevaluate his life, retire, stop drinking and start going to AA meetings. He has been sober ever since.

Now Scudder makes a living as an unlicensed private investgator. Scudder is approached by Peter Kristo (Boyd Holbrok), a struggling drug addict Scudder met at his AA meetings, who says his brother Kenny (Dan Stevens) needs his assistance. Kenny’s wife was kidnapped and held for ransom, but even after Kenny paid the men, they killed his wife. Kenny wants Scudder to find the men responsible so he can “take care of them”.

Scudder reluctantly takes on the investigation, and hires a young, homeless, tech-saavy, PI-wannabe named TJ (Brian “Astro” Bradley) to assist him with his investigation. They soon discover that the men who killed Kenny’s wife are serial killers who have been targeting the loved ones of those involved in the drug trade, and may themselves have ties to the DEA. Who can Scudder trust? Who will be the next target? Can Scudder find these men before they kill again?

I had never heard of author Lawrence Block or his series of Matt Scudder novels before seeing this film (which is an adaptation of the tenth book in the series), so I can’t comment on how the characters or events compare to the book.

The story plays out like a classic PI tale. A detective finds himself battling his own demons and troubled past while delving deeper and deeper into the mystery of the case. Scudder is a complicated man—while he always tries to maintain his moral code, his clients are drug dealers/traffickers and generally bad guys, and he often finds himself skirting the edges of the law.

While I enjoyed the film overall, and found it a satisfying 2 hours, it never became the deep mystery, action-packed thrill ride or edge-of-your-seat thriller I was hoping for. The film takes place in the late 90s, at a time when cell phones weren’t very prevalent, Y2K was a looming threat, and Yahoo! reigned supreme. So there are lots of pay phone calls and secret drops, trips to the library to do research on the case, and old school detective work.

The film reminded me of Silence of the Lambs if you remove the Hannibal Lecter portions and and just concentrate on the Buffalo Bill case. We see the psychotic killers select and torment their victims, while getting a glimpse of their seemingly-mundane life at home. Meanwhile we follow the detective as he finds clues and explores leads, and ultimately finds himself face-to-face with the the killers. But the film never quite reaches that pulse-pounding stage like the final sequence of Silence of the Lambs.

While Neeson delivers another great performance, it didn’t feel all that different from the roles we’ve seen him in recently. It wasn’t very memorable or compelling—there was no “I have a particular set of skills”-like monologue that will stick in my head for years to come. Dan Stevens, while given major billing on the Blu-ray cover, does not play a huge role in this film. He was far more compelling in last week’s release of The Guest.

The Blu-ray presentation looks great—dark and light scenes both look excellent, and the New York City setting looks beautiful on screen. The audio track captures all of the dialogue clearly and makes excellent use of all of the suuround channels—you feel like you are right in the middle of the big shootout that opens the film.

The amount of bonus features included on the disc are rather disappointing given that this was a major feature film release, and that a direct-to-video sequel released on the same day includes way more supplemental material! The only extras are a pair of behind-the-scenes/interview featurettes with a total runtime of less than 19 minutes. The Blu-ray Combo Pack also includes DVD, Ultraviolet and Digital copies of the film.

What’s Included:

Film: (1:54:05)

Blu-ray:
• 1080p / Widescreen 2.40:1
• Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Spanish DTS Digital Surround 5.1, English DVS 2.0
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French

DVD:

• 480p / Widescreen 2.40:1
• Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, English DVS 2.0
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French

Digital Copy (For redemption deadline see NBCUcodes.com):

• UltraViolet DigitalHD Copy redeemable via Universal, Flixster, Vudu or Target Ticket
• Digital Copy redeemable via iTunes or Windows Media

Extras (* Blu-ray Only):

• A Look Behind the Tombstones (12:07)
  The cast and creators talk about the film—the story, adapting the novels, the characters, the cast and what drew them to the project/how they prepared for their roles, and shooting in New York City. Includes behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with screenwriter/director Scott Frank, producers Michael Shamberg, Stacey Sher & Tobin Armbrust, and actors Liam Neeson (“Matt Scudder”), Dan Stevens (“Kenny Kristo”), Boyd Holbrok (“Peter Kristo”), Brian “Astro” Bradley (“TJ”), David Harbour (“Ray”), and Adam David Thompson (“Albert”).
• Matt Scudder: Private Eye* (6:26)
  Author Lawrence Block and screenwriter/director Scott Frank talk about the character of Matt Scudder, Liam Neeson playing the role, and adapting the book for the film. Also includes interviews with producers Stacey Sher, Tobin Armbrust & Michael Shamberg, and star Liam Neeson.

Final Thoughts:

A Walk Among the Tombstones looks and sounds great on this Blu-ray. Liam Neeson gives a strong performance, but I didn’t find it much different from or as memorable as some of his other recent roles. The two bonus features included on the disc are interesting but short. The Blu-ray combo pack also includes DVD, Ultraviolet and Digital copies of the film. Overall, I found the film to be solid detective/crime movie that is definitely worth checking out once, but it is not likely to be a film that I’ll be going back to re-watch over and over again.