Liam Neeson again plays a tough guy with a past in A Walk Among The Tombstones.

He doesnt sound like a very happy guy.

encounters a grim array of thug nasties and nefarious neer-do-wells.

I dont know about you, but Im feeling beats of familiarity in this set-up.

Liam Neeson playing a broken-and-beaten-down former member of the authorities?

Neeson brooding and psychologically scarred by his past?

Neeson going after lowlife and a woman who was taken?

(Or, if you really need the emphasis,Taken.)

(Reader warning: this column may start to feel very repetitive.

You will forgive this because repetition is partly the point and because its all about Liam Neeson.

If you dont like it Neeson will look for you, will find you, will kill you.

Just just, for goodness sake, dont cross Liam Neeson.)

Now consider Neesons previous collaboration with Spanish director Jaume Collet-Serra the 2011 Euro-thrillerUnknown.

In that movie, Lofty Liam is Dr Martin Harris.

Yes, he really is Dr Martin Harris, but no one else thinks hes Dr Martin Harris.

(He falls into muddy waters, and thats a visual metaphor.)

When Dr Martin Harris (Dr Martin Harris?)

Of course, we cant forgetThe Grey,which is the Mighty Neesons magnum opus.

(Observe how his characters are always hunting.)

Here, again, Neeson is playing a very confused man who is a composite of opposites.

Its beautiful and brutal, and its brilliant.

But its not necessarily his acting ability or physical prowess that pulls cinemagoers in time and time again.

Everyone can empathise and see shades of themselves and their own troubles in the actors inhabited fictional personas.

(Though no provider papas directly win bread.

is even more confusing a proposition.

Many films explore this issue or have it simmering in the subtext and as a hook to hang on.

Traditional ideas and assumptions about masculinity still exist but they are constantly challenged.

Acknowledge and respect me!

Struggling to keep up with technology?

Survey the Neesonscape and youll see the truth he is the totemic masculinity crisis manifest on the movie screen.

From a practical standpoint we need him to batter the wolves and bad guys when they come a-knockin.

Its comforting to think that Liam Neeson is you and that you are Liam Neeson.

James Clayton is not a middle-aged man in crisis but he can still empathise with Liam Neeson.

You canread Jamess last column here.