NON-STOP (Rated PG-13)

The business of being an action hero is not the exclusive domain of younger actors.

The slogan “Old Guys Rule” is not just for baseball caps and T-shirts worn by card-carrying AARP members who are not necessarily physically fit specimens.

The “old guys” are now ruling as tough guys with a purpose, namely meting out justice or payback. Kevin Costner demonstrated his machismo in “3 Days to Kill,” and now Liam Neeson is acting out toughness in the airborne-thriller “Non-Stop.”

In recent years, with films like “Unknown” and the “Taken” franchise, Neeson has morphed into a kick-ass tough guy hell-bent on dishing out punishing vengeance to all sorts of malevolent players deserving a severe beat-down.

Another key element in evidence for the older action heroes is that typically they are essentially flawed characters, or at least they have lived long enough to have accumulated a fair share of emotional baggage.

That’s certainly the case for Liam Neeson’s tortured Bill Marks, a federal air marshal struggling with personal demons that seemingly have drained him of any passion for the heroic calling of his profession.

On a gloomy day at the airport parking lot in New York, we first glimpse Marks mustering the will, if not desire, to report for duty on a transatlantic flight. He takes a few swigs of scotch followed by squirts of breath freshener.

“Non-Stop” is pure suspense and action. It’s also the story of a man in need of redemption. By all appearances, Marks has given up on life. The alcoholic ex-NYPD cop is merely going through the motions, but for a routine flight, he’s definitely on edge.

During the check-in and boarding process, Marks, though bleary-eyed but still sharp, encounters some fellow passengers who will soon become quite familiar. Like him, we may find ourselves formulating some judgments about potential danger ahead.

Shortly into the flight to London, Marks begins receiving text messages over the plane’s secure network, demanding that he force the airline, a fictional British carrier, to transfer $150 million into a secret offshore account lest a passenger be killed every 20 minutes.

Clearly up against a clever yet psychotic adversary, Marks has to figure out the source of the taunting threats. Another air marshal (Anson Mount) on board is not helpful, as he dismisses Marks as a delusional drunk.

Not on friendly terms with the pilots, Marks finds his only trustworthy ally is flight attendant Nancy (Michelle Dockery). In addition, he initially believes his seatmate Jen Summers (Julianne Moore) above suspicion because at least she isn’t texting.

While most passengers appear to be ordinary folks, there are others that look shifty. One promising terrorist suspect is the Muslim doctor (Omar Metwally), but he’s an obvious diversion. Other shady-looking types sweat too profusely or twitch nervously.

The story’s puzzle elements evoke classic Hitchcock whodunits, which is all the more exciting and suspenseful due to the claustrophobic nature of the action being contained in a vessel traveling at the speed of 500 miles with no escape possible.

The greatest twist, of course, is that suspicion is eventually cast upon the air marshal, and it is up to Marks to use his wits to fight an unseen enemy and to combat the false impressions that have come to the attention of the authorities.

Without giving away any of the surprises in store, suffice it to say that a few people are killed early on, mostly as a device to throw more suspicion upon Marks as the culprit.

The killer is somewhere on the plane and the audience is just as unaware of the person’s identity as the air marshal. Indeed, although there are a number of red herrings, the discovery of who is behind the crimes is left to the very end.

“Non-Stop,” though often preposterous, is a heart-pounding ride and a visual spectacle that puts the audience on the edge of its seat. Not knowing who to trust, you are left suspecting everyone.

You wonder about the surly Austin (Corey Stoll), who identifies himself as a NYPD cop but comes across as too anxious. What about the nerdy Tom Bowen (Scott McNairy), a true oddball? Zack (Nate Parker) may be too handy with his computer expertise.

A compelling presence, Liam Neeson gets a decent share of physical confrontations that reveal his dogged resilience as a credible action figure, but much of the battle is fought on a psychological front where wits are more vital than brawn.

“Non-Stop” is a thrill ride, pure and simple, with plenty of nerve-racking suspense. If you enjoyed Liam Neeson’s relentless quest for vengeance in “Taken,” you will find comfort here in his serious pursuit of justice.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Peter Shandera was the recent winner of the People's Choice Award for the Main Street Gallery's first theme show of the year, “Winter in Lake County.”

In March the Linda Carpenter Gallery section of the Main Street Gallery is featuring photos of winter in the county.

The public is invited to view and vote for favorite photos for the People's Choice Award.

The winner will be premiered this Friday at the First Friday Fling and throughout the month of March.

Come see all this new show has to offer. Among this month's art they have some distinguished paintings and very reasonably priced pieces that are a part of the Thompson and Sietz estates.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Second Sunday Cinema's March film will be “Inequality for All.”

The film will be shown on Sunday, March 9, at Clearlake United Methodist Church, 14521 Pearl Ave, Clearlake.

The free showing will begin at 5:45 p.m.

A passionate argument on behalf of the middle class, this documentary film features Robert Reich – diminutive professor, best-selling author, and President Clinton’s secretary of labor – as he demonstrates how the widening income gap has a devastating impact on the US economy as a whole and the middle class in particular.

Through his singular perspective, Reich explains how the massive consolidation of wealth by a few threatens the viability of the US workforce and the foundation of democracy itself.

Out of 141 countries, the US has the fourth-highest degree of wealth inequality in the entire world, trailing only Russia, Ukraine and Lebanon.  

The greater the wealth gap, the less happy the nation as a whole. And Reich has solutions in addition to a warm wit.

For more information call 707-889-7355.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Around the world, millions of girls face barriers to education that boys do not. And yet, when you educate a girl, you can break cycles of poverty in just one generation.

At 3 p.m. Sunday, March 23, the Lake County Girls Circle will host a special showing of “Girl Rising” at the Soper Reese Theatre in Lakeport.

This is a groundbreaking film that has already been seen by millions around the world.

“'Girl Rising’ will stir your heart,” said Marie Giovanna, a founding mentor of Girls Circle. “In our Circle meetings, we are learning about the immense oppression facing young women in far off regions of the world. By bringing this film to the Soper Reese Theatre, we hope to inspire the girls here in Lake County, as well as help guide their focus to appreciating education as a privilege that opens a world of possibilities to them.”

Everyone is welcome to attend this “must see” epic film; it truly is a documentary every mother, sister and daughter should see as well as the men who love and support the women in their lives.

The film is 101 minutes long and is guaranteed to be the most inspirational 101 minutes of your weekend.

To preview the movie, “Girl Rising,” go to www.girlrising.com .

Tickets are available at the Soper Reese Theatre, located at 275 S. Main Street in Lakeport, or online at www.soperreesetheatre.com .

Price is $10 for adults and admission is free for anyone under the age of 16.

All proceeds benefit the Girls Circle, a volunteer based affiliate program of Lake Family Resource Center (LFRC).

Girls Circle is run by LFRC volunteers and seeks to serve the youth of the Lake County community by giving them the experience of belonging to something that is whole and healthy while they make their natural and challenging passage from puberty to adulthood.

For information about the film “Girl Rising” or the group Girls Circle contact Marie Giovanna at 707-508-7556 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , or email Vicki Crystal at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Li-Young Lee is an important American poet of Chinese parentage who lives in Chicago. Much of his poetry is marked by unabashed tenderness, and this poem is a good example of that.

I Ask My Mother to Sing

She begins, and my grandmother joins her.
Mother and daughter sing like young girls.
If my father were alive, he would play
his accordion and sway like a boat.

I’ve never been in Peking, or the Summer Palace,
nor stood on the great Stone Boat to watch
the rain begin on Kuen Ming Lake, the picnickers
running away in the grass.

But I love to hear it sung;
how the waterlilies fill with rain until
they overturn, spilling water into water,
then rock back, and fill with more.

Both women have begun to cry.
But neither stops her song.

American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation ( www.poetryfoundation.org ), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright 1986 by Li-Young Lee, whose most recent book of poems is Behind My Eyes, BOA Editions, Ltd., 2009. Poem reprinted by permission of Li-Young Lee and the publisher. Introduction copyright 2014 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006. We do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.

3 DAYS TO KILL (Rated PG-13)

French director and writer Luc Besson has an extraordinary cinematic resume, having directed “La Femme Nikita” and “Leon: The Professional.”

His action style is most evident in his scripts for the “Taken” franchise, starring Liam Neeson as the tough guy.

For “3 Days to Kill,” directed by McG, no slouch himself in the high-octane action department, Luc Besson is co-screenwriter along with Adi Hasak, the script writer for “From Paris With Love,” another film in the same genre.

The interesting thing about these hard-boiled thrillers, other than an affinity for location shooting in Paris, the beautiful City of Lights, is the use of mature actors for tough guy roles.

Now Kevin Costner, dangerous international spy Ethan Renner, is in good company with the likes of John Travolta and Liam Neeson. Nearing retirement age, Costner’s CIA operative convincingly beats the stuffing out of guys half his age.

The film kicks off explosively at a hotel in Belgrade, Serbia, once the capital city of the former Yugoslavia. The bad guys show up in shiny blacks SUVs, ready for a major firefight, and Ethan is only too willing to oblige.

Trying to save the world from Europe’s most dangerous terrorists, including a creepy-looking guy known only as the Albino and the elusive mastermind who goes by the moniker of “The Wolf,” Ethan wants to finish the job and get out of the game.

Having been on the road for so long, Ethan is only a faint, distant memory to his teenage daughter Zooey (Hailee Steinfeld) and his estranged wife Christine (Connie Nielsen). Now, he desperately wants to reconnect with his family.

Ethan also has a seemingly terminal disease and he’s got little time left. Enter the mysterious vixen named Vivi (Amber Heard), with lips painted bright red and wearing leather latex like a dominatrix, Ethan’s new handler sent from CIA headquarters in Langley.

Beautiful and seductive, Vivi offers the dying CIA operative an offer he can’t refuse. Experimental drugs may extend his life, but first he’s got to accomplish one more extremely dangerous mission.

The good news is that the job gets him back to his home base in Paris, where he finds his shabby apartment has been taken over by squatters and his complaints to the local police go nowhere because the law won’t evict them during the cold winter months.

Zooey is attending an international school in Paris, while Christine has made a new life for herself with museum work that sometimes takes her to England. Ethan’s first encounters with his daughter are awkward and tentative.

One of the film’s running gags is that he buys a purple girl’s bike for Zooey, who prefers to ride the Metro with her friends, since her absent father never taught her how to ride a bike as a child. Ethan lugs the bike all over Paris, vainly hoping she will eventually use it.

Based upon intelligence reports about terrorist activities, Vivi recruits Ethan to eliminate “The Wolf” when he comes to Paris to meet with his accountant and to supply dirty bombs to the usual bad guys.

The mission becomes more complicated when, trying to balance his job and family for the first time ever, Ethan agrees to care for Zooey when Christine takes off for a three day business trip to London.

Not hip to the modern digital world, Ethan has a lot to learn about teenage behavior, having to show up for a conference with her school principal and then saving Zooey from sexual aggressors at an underground rave.

Ethan could be in the middle of gunning down a bunch of thugs in a fancy hotel room or interrogating a suspect, but then he’ll take time out to answer a cell phone call from Zooey, who usually rings at an inconvenient time.

As part of his planning for a quiet family dinner at home, Ethan interrupts his grilling of an Italian hoodlum to force him to tell Zooey over the phone his family recipe for a nice spaghetti sauce.

There’s also the running gag of Ethan having taken a Middle Eastern limo driver into custody, keeping him locked in the trunk, but seeking advice from him about fatherhood because he’s met the driver’s polite teenage daughters.

The comic relief is a welcome palliative to the surfeit of violence that comes with hunting down the terrorists. Director McG takes great pains to create terrific action sequences, from volatile shootouts to fist fights in the Paris subway system.

Most spectacular of all, reminiscent of “Ronin,” is an incredible, breathtaking multi-car chase sequence on the streets of Paris, which culminates with Ethan crashing a car into the Seine.

Kevin Costner’s talent shines in his role as the world-weary, put-upon CIA operative grappling with family issues. He’s tough, witty, resilient and consequential. Let’s hope his Ethan Renner can be called out of retirement one more time.

Over-the-top in its thrilling action, “3 Days to Kill,” not to be taken too seriously, is unorthodox at its core but absurdly entertaining and one heck of a lot of fun.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.