What is it about hitmen and conmen? I don’t think there’s ever been a bad movie about either. My immediate thought is to triple bill this somewhere along the lines of Grosse Pointe Blank (review coming soon, I have it queued up for viewing, though it’s gonna be embarrassing since that inspired my first screenplay effort, lol) and Matchstick Men (good lord, is that one of my oldest reviews on here? nearly 2 years ago!!)

“I hate these Catholic countries – all ‘blushy-blushy’ and no sucky-f**ky …”

This is one of those movies that leaves you in the dark about precisely what is going on almost too long, but you don’t care for a moment ‘cos you just feel so damn smooth in the characters’ mere presence, even despite their slight grotesqueries.

It does meander about as much as the protagonist’s state of mind towards the end, but overall, this is a pretty perfect 90 minutes, featuring insanely good production design (and lovely onscreen titles, about as bold as the film itself), the best Rolfe Kente score I’ve ever heard, and a screenplay packed full of memorable lines like the above. That’s before even getting to the actors – Pierce Brosnan proving again he’s so much more than Bond, Greg Kinnear (I love how he always seems so almost uncastable yet the perfect roles always seem to find him), hilarious Hope Davis, and the always reliable, and always enjoyable, Philip Baker Hall. Definitely a repeat viewer.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 22nd, 2007 at 12:43 am in 4 hearts, Movie Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.