Absolution has many of the hallmarks of Neeson's other recent films, where troubled and dangerous men face an existential crisis. His character, known only as Thug, is an aging Boston gangster who has seen and done some pretty awful things. Ageism is an issue in the criminal world, so he isn't respected by the younger generation (another criminal calls him "Jurassic Park"), but he's hard at work and can be ruthless and ruthless when called upon. Lonely and sad, he is estranged from his daughter (Frankie Shaw) and son, and longs to be reunited with them. To make matters worse, he has been diagnosed with CTE, caused by a blow to the head during his previous boxing career. With his memory failing and his health failing, all he wants to do is do something good before his time runs out.

The film was directed by Norwegian filmmaker Hans Petter Moland, who had to polish off a poor script that had no clear enemy for Neeson's character to fight. Various subplots are introduced that work better than others. A reliable and strong Yolanda Roth appears as his lover, a woman with more than her share of personal demons. Both are people who need help but are too proud to ask anyone, much less each other, for help. A pretty good non-action movie could have been made about these two. He also has to contend with his underemployed longtime boss Mr. Connor (Ron Perlman), who is tasked with teaching his disrespectful son (Daniel Diemer) the family business. He also has to make sure Connor never finds out about his cognitive decline, or there could be serious consequences. These stories aren't all that interesting, especially in the first hour, when there's very little action. This film is available on Afdah movies website.