"Wherever we're going, when we cross that line... we're going together."
"Right now, we're the most wanted men in this city. Michael, listen to me. One night. That's all I'm asking. Listen to your father for one night. If I can't figure this out by the morning... I'll walk myself into the precinct and tell them I blew those two officers away. One night. Then you never have to see me again."
— Jimmy Conlon
Run All Night is a 2015 action film starring Liam Neeson, Joel Kinnaman, Common, and Ed Harris. The movie is about a former hitman named Jimmy Conlon who ends up acquiring the wrath of his old boss and closest friend Shawn Maguire after he was forced to kill Shawn's son Danny in self-defense when he was about to kill Mike, Jimmy's son. Now, the two must spend the night on the run in New York City and Jimmy has to protect his son at all costs.
Run All Night contains examples of:
- Alas, Poor Villain: Jimmy cradles Shawn after killing him and they both wait until Shawn passes away.
- Amoral Attorney: Detective Harding mentions that a D.A. he sent cases to was on the payroll of Shawn Maguire; Harding's partner actually retired over not wanting to deal with a corrupt lawyer.
- An Ass-Kicking Christmas: The movie takes place on Christmas night.
- As Long as It Sounds Foreign: The two Albanian gangsters at the beginning of the movie speak Serbian, because the actor playing Victor Grezda, Radivoje Bukvić, is Serbian. Also, Radivoje played an Albanian in another Liam Neeson movie, Taken.
- Ax-Crazy: Danny definately qualifies, setting up a ripdeal with Albanian gangsters where he kills them both after offering them Monopoly money, and then ignoring Shawn's orders to go kill Michael himself.
- Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work: Invoked when Jimmy kills the Dirty Cops who frame Michael. When Michael points a gun at them, Jimmy bats Michael's hand away and kills the cops himself.Jimmy: Don't do it, son. [shoots the cop]
- Bait-and-Switch Gunshot: When Danny prepares to shoot Michael, a gunshot is heard and Michael flinches. Then the camera turns back to Danny, who was just shot in the throat. He falls dead, revealing Jimmy with his pistol drawn.
- Battle Amongst the Flames: In the housing projects confrontation, one apartment catches fire due to the owner leaving bacon cooking on the stove and forgetting to turn it off when the police arrive and begin clearing out apartments. Part of Jimmy and Price's physical fight takes place in the room as the flames engulf it.
- Being Evil Sucks: Jimmy was able to avoid prison for his crimes, but he's eaten up with guilt and is estranged from his family.Jimmy: Just because I'm not behind bars doesn't mean I'm not paying for what I did.
- Shawn also regrets his past decisions, such as the first time he allowed cocaine to enter the streets. He mentions that he has alienated people and ruined lives thanks to this, and has also had to kill several friends after they became hooked on the stuff because he couldn't trust them anymore.
- Big Bad: Shawn Maguire, a mob boss with a large list of crimes.
- Big Bad Friend: Shawn to Jimmy as they worked together for years until the incident that occurs in the movie.
- The Big Rotten Apple: The primary setting of the movie.
- Bittersweet Ending: Jimmy dies, but Mike survives and forgives his father for everything, while Shawn and all of his enforcers are dead. Jimmy also leaves behind a list of the people he killed for Detective Harding to find, ensuring that their families will finally have closure.
- Boom, Headshot!: How the Albanian gang leader and Price die.
- Bottomless Magazines: Averted. Both Jimmy and Price are seen reloading their weapons often throughout the film.
- Calling the Old Man Out: As soon as Mike and Jimmy are alone in a car, Mike wastes no time in scolding his father for his past crimes and walking away free.
- Clear My Name: In addition to being on the run from Shawn and his men, Mike must also be cleared of his crimes.
- Co-Dragons: Frank and Price to Shaun.
- Concealment Equals Cover: Averted. Jimmy manages to shoot Pat through a wall to subdue him.
- Cop Killer:
- Jimmy kills the corrupt cops that try to kill Mike, which means they're now wanted by the cops for questioning.
- Price kills about a half-dozen cops while trying to go after Jimmy and Mike at the housing projects.
- Cradling Your Kill: Jimmy does this to Shawn after shooting him to death.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Jimmy is introduced to the audience as a drunken has-been who falls asleep in bars and asks for handouts from Shawn's son Danny. He also has nightmares over the crimes he has committed, and only seems to hang around with the mob because their boss is his oldest friend. He was also Shawn's number one hitman back in his prime, having killed countless people with the corpses never being found by the police in the 35 years he had been working for Shawn. He puts up a significant fight against the mob, the cops and Andrew Price throughout the film, and even ends up singlehandedly destroying Shawn's entire operation when he realises his boss won't stop coming for his son Michael.
- The Dead Have Names: Jimmy can still remember all the people he's killed during his days as a hitman. In fact, he has all the names written down on a piece of paper, which he plans to hand over to the cops when he dies.
- Deadly Bath: In a flashback, Jimmy is shown killing his cousin while he takes a shower.
- Death by Irony: At one point, Michael has Price, Shawn's assassin, dead to rights with a gun pointed directly at the back of his head, but hesitates when Jimmy tells him not to do it. During the climax of the film, Price manages to get the drop on Michael, having a clear shot on him from behind. Rather than immediately shoot him, Price instead decides to brag about his apparent victory, telling Michael that he should've killed him when he had the chance. This provides Jimmy, who is nearby and can see them, enough time to stand up, spin-cock his rifle and shoot Price dead. In other words, Price only failed because he didn't kill Michael when he had the chance.
- Dies Wide Open: Jimmy.
- Dirty Cop: Two of these cops kidnap Mike after Jimmy saves him from Danny.
- Dragon-in-Chief: Price is much more threatening and menacing than Frank and Shawn, and also ends up killing Jimmy at the end.
- Dragon Their Feet: After killing Shawn, Andrew Price shows up and kills Jimmy at the end, but not before Jimmy kills Price via Boom, Headshot!.
- The Dreaded:
- Jimmy, and for good reason. He's a former hitman who, back in his day, wracked up a considerable body count as Shawn's top enforcer and earned himself the nickname "Gravedigger" likely because the police never found the bodies of his victims. Even though he's been out of the game for a few years, he's still dangerous enough to be considered a serious threat, and ends up slaughtering Shawn's entire crew with just a revolver when he assaults their pub towards the end of the film.
- Andrew Price, Shawn's Psycho for Hire assassin, certainly counts as well. When Jimmy realises Price is after them in the apartment building, the first thing he does is tell Michael to leave immediately if he ever wants to see his family again. He very nearly has them in the final act, with him fatally wounding Jimmy and almost killing Michael if not for his father's intervention.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Shawn refuses to enter into a deal to move the Albanians' drugs through his docks because back in the 1980s, when the cocaine epidemic was at an all-time high, he had too many of his associates get hooked on the drug and become liabilities he had to kill.
- Hero Antagonist: Detective Harding, a cop trying to arrest Jimmy.
- The Hero Dies: Jimmy bleeds to death after taking too many shots.
- Impromptu Tracheotomy: Jimmy shoots Danny at close range through the throat.
- In Medias Res: The movie opens with a fatally wounded Jimmy struggling to reach his rifle and him explaining how he ended up in that situation, via Posthumous Narration.
- Inspector Javert: Detective Harding believes that Michael killed the Albanians after Shaun's gang moves the bodies into his limousine. His pursuit for Michael and Jimmy is genuine.
- Last Breath Bullet: Jimmy uses the last of his strength to draw his rifle and shoot Price.
- Must Have Caffeine: Detective Harding mentions he typically drinks six cups of coffee a day, for 30 years.
- Multiple Gunshot Death: The second Dirty Cop who tried to frame Michael is shot four times by Jimmy: three to the vest, one to the head.
- Mutual Kill: Andrew Price fatally wounds Jimmy, who spends several minutes bleeding out on the ground before he's able to get back up and put a bullet through his killer's head with Jimmy succumbing to blood loss not long after.
- Noodle Incident: Jimmy and Price have butted heads at least once before, and because of that Price is willing to kill Jimmy even if not paid.
- Old Cop, Young Cop: Detective Harding is the old cop and Detective Martinez is the young cop. Harding used to be the young cop, but his partner retired sometime before the events of the film, having grown tired of dealing with a D.A. working for Shawn.
- Outliving One's Offspring:
- Shawn's son Danny is killed by Jimmy when he tries to shoot Michael.
- Invoked with Shawn ordering Price to kill Michael before he kills Jimmy.
- Jimmy's mother is in the hospital and is presumably still alive at the end of the film after Jimmy is killed by Price.
- Papa Wolf: The plot is driven by Jimmy trying to protect his son and Shawn trying to avenge his.
- Post-Climax Confrontation: The shootout in the woods between Jimmy and Price.
- Psycho for Hire: Andrew Price is a professional assassin who is hired by Shawn to kill Jimmy and Mike. In Price's case he says he would kill Jimmy for free.
- Redemption Equals Death: Jimmy spent 35 years of his life as a professional hitman for the Irish mob, murdering numerous people (including his own cousin) and avoiding jail time because they never found the bodies. His actions have ruined lives and estranged him from his own family, and the guilt he feels inside continues to plague him with nightmares. At the very end of the film, Jimmy ends up singlehandedly bringing down the mobster he used to work for, and saves his only son from an assassin after being fatally shot himself by said assassin. Before he dies, he leaves behind a list of all the people he killed over the years for the police to find, ensuring the people whose lives he ruined will find some closure knowing what happened to their loved ones.
- Revolvers Are Just Better: Jimmy's choice of weapon.
- Scary Black Man: Price.
- Shoot the Dog: Jimmy shooting a fleeing Shawn near the end.
- Tagline: No sin goes unpunished.
- There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Shawn stabs Danny's best friend no less than ten times in the abdomen for failing to save him.
- Thou Shalt Not Kill: Jimmy talks Michael down from trying to kill anybody while they're on the run, insisting that he doesn't want Michael to be as bad as him.
- Weapon Specialization:
- Jimmy uses a Ruger GP100 as his main weapon.
- Shawn uses a Browning Hi-Power.
- Price uses a CZ 75 SP-01 Phantom fitted with a Laser Sight.
- Whole-Plot Reference: To Road to Perdition. In both movies, a longtime, trusted hitman (Jimmy Conlon; Michael Sullivan Sr.) is put at odds with their boss (Shawn Maguire; John Rooney) when their sons make things personal (Danny Maguire; Connor Rooney) and target their own children (Mike Conlon; Peter and Michael Sullivan Jr.). As a result, a master assassin (Andrew Price; Harlan Maguire) is dispatched to get rid of them. Both films also conclude at a family cabin and the protagonist hitman dies. Both films even have a son named Michael and a villain named Maguire.
"Been a long night, huh, Jimmy?"
