Liam Neeson names his most underrated movie: “A personal favourite of mine”
After years of punching his way through forgettable action B-movies, Liam Neeson has been back in the headlines for a very different reason.
He’s traded in the brooding glare and oversized pistols for – well, more of the same, but in a brilliantly slapstick turn in the recently released The Naked Gun reboot/sequel. The man who once hunted down kidnappers with “a very particular set of skills” is now deadpanning with the best of them. And honestly? He looks to be having way more fun in this movie than in that one.
But while audiences are discovering Neeson’s comic timing, he himself has been looking back. Nostalgia can be a dangerous thing, but sometimes it can give you the chance to put the spotlight on an otherwise dimmed area of your resume. Asked to pick out his most underrated project, Neeson selected the 1996 picture Michael Collins. One of the more poignant moments in Neeson’s career, the movie about the Irish revolutionary is “a personal favourite”, confessed the actor.
Recognising the complexity of the film’s central figure, Neeson brought real gravitas to the project. Michael Collins was a freedom fighter who played a pivotal role in Ireland’s struggle for independence from British rule – a devoted patriot who pushed for peace but also helped pioneer guerrilla warfare in urban settings. Taking on such a conflicted character was no small task, but it was one Neeson clearly relished.
“I was fascinated by him,” Neeson has said of Collins, a man both lionised and criticised in equal measure. That fascination bleeds through in the performance. There is no sense of a saintly patriot here. Neeson brings flesh, blood, warts and all to the portrayal. Watching Neeson shift between fiery speeches and moments of weary intimacy, you sense why the role still lingers with him. Collins’ legacy remains contested, and that must have only enhanced Neeson’s thrill playing him.
It is expected that the picture is the highest-grossing movie in Ireland’s history upon release, but the picture didn’t break out from the confines of its home country. Michael Collins was overshadowed by Hollywood releases at the time and was likely pushed down the pecking order by the polarising subject matter. It paints the art of revolution in uncomfortable colours and acknowledges the purity of the cause, but the messiness of the fight to achieve it.
For Neeson, though, that’s exactly the point. He has always gravitated towards characters who embody moral ambiguity. Even in the popcorn chaos of Taken, there’s a shadow of regret in his avenging father. But Michael Collins gave him the chance to channel that complexity into something grander – a role deeply rooted in his heritage and history.
Revisiting the film now, you can see why he holds it so close. Michael Collins is not the crowd-pleasing thrill ride of Batman Begins or the redemptive sweep of Schindler’s List. It’s thornier, trickier, harder to package – and therefore all the more powerful. For an actor who has played gods, gangsters, Jedi, and cops, it might just be the role that shows him at his most human.
