Liam Neeson skates on thin ice in preposterous outing

The Ice Road (M, 109 mins) Directed by Jonathan Hensleigh Reviewed by ★★

Even Liam Neeson’s very particular set of skills can’t save this preposterous action thriller from sinking into a shallow puddle of cliches and contrivances.

The amiable Northern Irishman might be in full-on flinty mode here, throwing himself into the character of long-haul trucker Mike McCann, but, in the end, his commitment to a baseball cap, plaid and ubiquitous toothpick fail to hide the narrative cracks and fissures that eventually consign

The Ice Road’s pretensions of being taken seriously to a watery grave.

If you’re here for exponentially increasing thrills and spills, you’ll come away happy. Unintentional schtick and giggles? There’s plenty to enjoy in the overwrought performances, cartoon villains and truly lousy dialogue.

But those wanting anything resembling a coherent plot rooted in reality, or that could even be remotely described as subtle, should best look elsewhere.

When we first meet the grumpy, grizzled McCann, he’s dishing out grievous bodily harm via a thermos. It’s OK though, because he’s defending the honour of his brother Gurty (Marcus Thomas). Left with PTSD as a result of his military service, he might be a marvellous mechanic, but Gurty’s lack of attention and personality quirks mean the pair have struggled to hold down a regular gig from their North Dakota base.

McCann is anxious to get Gurty into suitable care, but red tape is making that a challenge, especially when money is tight.

But just when he thinks his hauling days may be over, along comes the opportunity for a significant payday. An accident at a diamond mine in North Manitoba has left 26 men trapped. Their only way out is to cap the methane gas with a well-head and then deliver a controlled blast. The only way to get the 18ft, 30-tonne piece of equipment there is by road.

To ensure this race against time is a success, three specialised trucks will be needed, vehicles only owned by a select few like Jim Goldenrod (Laurence Fishburne). Much of the road is actually ice, easily able to support a truck’s weight during the winter months, but spring has well and truly sprung, and we’re five weeks past the usual cutoff.

With Jim and the seemingly fearless Tantoo ( Legion’s Amber Midthunder), who has the incentive of her brother being one of those entombed, the McCanns are more than happy to sign up, especially with a share of $200,000 on offer. Insisting on joining them is the mining company’s insurance man Tom Varnay (Benjamin

Walker), there to ensure they don’t cut any corners.

We’re told early on that there’s a ticking clock and a need to navigate the eponymous frozen track cautiously. Go too slow and they’ll sink, go too fast and they’ll create a pressure wave.

Writer-director Jonathan Hensleigh (2004’s under-rated ‘‘marvel’’ The Punisher) certainly doesn’t stint on the set-pieces, eliciting plenty of frisson from his semi-fredo setting and putting Neeson and company in a seemingly constant state of peril. And yet it all feels a little underwhelming.

A lack of characters means any mystery is quickly undermined. The central Rain Man- esque bromance never truly convinces, while the On Deadly Ground- meetsThey Drive by Night by way of Duel premise never lives up to its promise. And, as for the Americans cleaning up the environmental crimes of those dastardly neighbours to the north conceit, the less said about that the better.

Amovie whose plausibility sometimes matches the drivers’ visibility during the extreme weather conditions they encounter, The Ice Road graunches its way through near two hours of barely controlled mayhem. As McCann prophetically observes, ‘‘this is going to get ugly’’.

The Ice Road is screening now in select cinemas.