Directed by:
Paco Cabezas (Penny Dreadful)
Screenplay by:
Max Landis (Victor Frankenstein)
Rated:
R
Release Date:
April 2016
Genre:
Action, Rom-Com
The Hook:
Honestly, I realized this DVD was getting checked out a lot and decided to check it out. For whatever reason, I didn’t really read what it was about prior to hitting play.
The Review
Okay, as I mentioned, I went into this one blindfolded. Mostly. When I read the blurb on Netflix, “A girl falls for the “perfect” guy, who happens to have a very fatal flaw: he’s a hitman …,” I couldn’t not watch it. The premise seems similar to Grosse Point Blank, but not exactly, you know? And I love John Cusack in that movie (well, most of his movies). And the story on that one was entertaining. So, yep. Decided to give it a shot. And Anna Kendrick hasn’t let me down.
The Plot . . .
All right. So I mentioned to plot, or at least the blurb, and that really says it all. Martha McKay has just gone through a bad break up. It seems like she has a bad habit of picking the wrong guys and she realizes this. It’s your basic rom-com plot. One of the standards anyway. On her way home, she stops into a quick mart and that’s when Mr. Right sees her and makes his introduction. Flirty banter ensues, an invitation to get some drinks, there’s dancing and drinking, and immediately crashing out as soon as she/they gets back to her place. The start of an unconventional, sort of relationship is underway when she finds out her perfect guy is a hitman for hire.
Like I said before, your typical rom-com plot. It’s just so hilarious that in this case the flaw of said perfect guy is that he kills people for a living. What is also hilarious is that it’s a comedy. I like it. It’s different from your standard romcoms. And really, you have romance and comedy and action rolled into one. It’s a deadly combination for someone who loves action and loves a good romcom. Kudos in my book for sure.
. . . and Presentation
There’s a certain balance that needs to be had when you’re dealing with a shoot-em up kind of movie. The right mixture of comic relief tied in with moving the story along tied in with the shoot-em up part can be tricky to pull off. It wasn’t a problem in this film. I liked the way the story unfolded and at the pace in which it unfolds. There was just one part for me that seemed to drag just a teensy bit for me and that was the succession of scenes directly following Martha’s break up. Just a teensy bit, mind you. Dialogue and deliver smoothed this over for me. To me, dialogue is key in any type of moving picture entertainment and this one meets that standard. It’s witty and delivered well by both Sam Rockwell (Mr. Right) and Anna Kendrick (Martha). They did such a good job. The chemistry didn’t seem forced. Add to it great the great side characters of Tim Roth (Hopper) and RZA (Shotgun Steve) and you’ve got a pretty good movie. Truthfully, RZA’s part was small when compared to the other bad guys–James Ransone (Von Cartigan), Anson Mount (Richard Cartigan), and Michael Eklund–but his character did make the heavy shoot-em up scenes comical.
The Verdict
I don’t think I’d add this to my library. Don’t get me wrong. I love this movie. I know I’d definitely watch it again. But I don’t think I’d watch it enough to justify adding it to my collection. It is a really good movie to watch at least once. It’s funny, it’s interesting, it has some action, some romance. Win-win if you’re asking “should I watch it?”
Photo Credit: Google Play
j1818
One of the reasons I loved working at the library was I always found an interesting book or video that I never would have thought of searching for otherwise. In fact, I read A Discovery of Witches because I kept processing patron hold requests for it!