Memory

It’s best if you don’t remember much about Memory, the latest Liam Neeson potboiler off the action-thriller assembly line.

This slick but derivative reimagining of a 1993 Belgian crime saga would be just another formulaic cat-and-mouse procedural if not for an unfortunate Alzheimer’s subplot that shifts it from the mundane to the ridiculous.

Neeson plays Alex, an aging contract killer who knows his cognitive abilities are deteriorating when he takes his latest assignment from the perpetrators of a Mexican child trafficking ring. The target is Beatriz (Mia Sanchez), an orphaned 13-year-old girl in El Paso.

However, Alex’s instincts tell him not to follow through. That irritates his bosses, of course, but also lands him in the middle of an investigation involving an FBI agent (Guy Pearce) whose resources are being cut by his higher-ups, and a local detective (Ray Stevenson) who doesn’t trust the feds.

Equally comfortable in a shootout or a fistfight, Alex must defend himself and the teenager while he tries to recall the location of a hidden flash drive that could break the case open.

Proficiently directed by Martin Campbell (Casino Royale), the mildly intriguing film fails to bring much fresh insight into ongoing sociopolitical turmoil along the southern border, which seems like a missed opportunity considering the topicality of the subject matter.

Maybe the resulting sense of detachment is the product of a Kiwi filmmaker, along with actors from Ireland and Australia, trying to navigate a story requiring specific regional nuances to convey a sense of authenticity. Why bother with El Paso when the film could have just as easily been set in New York or London?

At any rate, Neeson brings his usual growling intensity to his conflicted antihero, adding welcome depth when probing Alex’s tortured conscience. But the screenplay doesn’t make much use of his backstory except to trot out his memory loss as a plot device whenever it’s convenient.

The character is more compelling than the film, which lacks the consistent suspense and moral texture to fulfill its ambitions as a noir-style mystery. Pearce takes a whirl at a Texas twang, although his talents are likewise generally squandered.

As secrets and motives are revealed and lines between heroes and villains are blurred, Memory never generates sufficient incentive for emotional investment. The result is simply forgettable.

Rated R, 114 minutes.