Liam Neeson’s Best Non-Action Movies
For the better part of the past two decades, Liam Neeson has been one of the biggest box office draws in Hollywood. That’s largely thanks to his unexpected ascension to a full-blown action star — a turn that began, more or less, with 2008’s surprise hit “Taken.” Meanwhile, Neeson remains a supremely gifted dramatic actor whose range knows no bounds. In descending order, these are Liam Neeson’s five best non action movies to date.
#5 — Widows (2018)
Widows may be my favorite film on this list. And it easily ranks among the most shamefully slept-on movies of the past decade. So if you’re wondering why I’m slotting into the five hole, it’s because Liam Neeson is very much a supporting player in Widows. As Widows also boasts a couple of pulse-pounding action scenes, it’s arguably a borderline cheat for this particular list.
Widows is about as far from a proper action film as you’ll find, however, with director Steve McQueen instead crafting a soulful, character-driven drama with plenty to say about gender, politics, and the socio-economic divide that’s cleverly framed as a daring heist flick. That story is, naturally, centered around the titular femmes (Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, and Elizabeth Debicki), but Neeson’s character is as vital to the action as any. And his work as Davis’ duplicitous, thieving lover is the very definition of scene-stealing.
#4 — Silence (2016)
Like Widows, Silence is a bit of an overlooked gem. Silence also does not offer Liam Neeson a ton of screen time. But just like Widows, Silence finds Neeson in a role that frames the film’s central narrative. And yes, Neeson’s powerful turn as a veteran Jesuit priest who goes missing after renouncing his faith in 17th Century Japan is another stunner.
The film opens with the man witnessing the torture of Japanese people he’d converted to Christianity. Soon after, two of his pupils (Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver) learn of his ensuing apostasy, and set off on a journey to find, and potentially save their mentor. That journey is as grueling, and perilous as you’d imagine. And once their mentor is found, well, he’s no longer the man he was. In Neeson’s hands, that transformation is as captivating as it is devastating, and his reveal marks one of the film’s biggest emotional payouts.
#3 — Kinsey (2004)
Some of Liam Neeson’s best roles outside of the action realm have found him portraying real world individuals. Few of those roles were quite as adventurous as the one Neeson tackled with Kinsey. If you’re not familiar with the name Alfred Kinsey, he was a true pioneer in the field of human sexuality, and essentially wrote the first scientific publication devoted to the subject in 1948’s “Sexual Behavior in the Human Male.”
Bill Condon’s absorbing 2004 biopic is a “warts and all” depiction of Kinsey’s rise to scientific prominence (and subsequent fall amid McCarthy-Era politics) that focuses as much on Kinsey’s professional life as it does his personal. Along the way Neeson delivers a deeply-nuanced portrait of a complicated man whose obsessive need to learn all he could on the subject of human sexuality was matched only by his desire to share his findings with a general public then too often left in the dark on the subject.
#2 — The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)
I know, here’s another film where Liam Neeson’s distinctive facade isn’t front and center for most of the action. But there really isn’t a true “star” in Joel and Ethan Coen’s sprawling collection of Western vignettes, and Neeson plays a suitably prominent role in his own segment of The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.
His stoic performance may be the standout of this star-studded affair as well. That segment is titled “Meal Ticket,” and features Neeson as a haggard impresario whose titular attraction is a loquacious man with no arms and legs (Harry Melling) reciting excerpts from from the works of Shelley, Shakespeare, and Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address.” Yes, Melling’s work is positively electrifying here, but Neeson’s turn as the physically imposing, and emotionally vacant impresario is a legit show-stopper. And the most impressive part is that Neeson delivers it with nary a single line of dialogue.
#1 — Schindler’s List (1993)
In case there was any doubt, Schindler’s List was always going to be number one on this list… because it’s Schindler’s List, and it’s one of the most important movies of the 20th Century. It’s also one of the best movies ever produced, and remains as artistically daring and narratively vital today as it was in 1993.
Liam Neeson is in almost every wrenching moment of the film too, portraying the wealthy German industrialist of the title who almost single-handedly saved the lives of more than 800 Polish Jews amid the genocidal atrocities of holocaust. Schindler’s List debuted nearly three decades ago, and it still holds rank as not only the best film Liam Neeson has ever been in, but the one that fronts the finest performance of his career. Frankly, it’s a performance he’ll likely never top.
