Ein Mann, ein Mord

Watched this for the first time in 20 years and all I could think of was "what ever happened to John Cusack and why doesn't he make great films like this???" Fantastic sound track to a black comedy.

Some movies have a good story that is made great by the casting. This is one such film. It has a cast to die for and makes what could have been an interesting film superb.

John and Joan Cusack play great characters along with Minnie Driver in a film about a hit man returning to his home town for a high school reunion. he reconnects with a lost love while competitors are trying to rub him out.

There is an assortment of characters in the film: Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine) as Dr. Oatman; Dan Akroyd as Blank's main competitor; Hank Azaria, K. Todd Freeman and Jeremy Piven.

This film has enough laughs amid the shooting and romance to satisfy anyone.

John Cusack (hit man) has got a violent feud with Dan Akroyd (another hit man). In between there is a budding romance with Minnie Driver and when I say " in between" I mean literally in between the shootouts and sometimes even DURING the shootouts. Hilarious. Original.

Weird, yet quite unique combination of violence and romance. It's literally like a gangster shooting someone and a second later proposing to marry his high school sweetheart. Sounds silly? Wait till you see it and seeing it you must if you are into black gangster comedies.

The good: produced by John Cusack himself, meaning he had control and it shows. The jokes are spot on and the story is refreshingly original, however weird it might be. Nice eighties soundtrack as well.

Any bad? It's a bit silly. So what? It's meant to be out of control silly, THAT's the fun of it.

About the same time as this film was made there was a spate of hitman focused comedy dramas (from Leon to Coldblooded) so this risked being viewed in the same way as these. This is strictly a comedy - there's no deep soul searching here, the analyst is also in it for comedy value.

The story is funny and lively, the soundtrack reminded us that not all 80's music was rubbish and the whole feel of the film is one that it must have been fun to make. John Cusack is excellent as the hitman, he just seems to bring the character to life and play him in a jokey way without making fun of the film, Dan Akroyd gets the best role he's had in years as the hitman trying to get Cusack to join his union, while Minnie Driver is girly and fun - the whole cast are excellent in fact!

The film is not a classic by any means and many see it as a down side that it ignores any serious issues or that the film is set so far away from reality but for me this is part of the fun. Sit down, don't take it seriously and just enjoy the ride!

One of the complaints about movies these days, and justifiably so, is that they're predictable. This movie is not predictable, and I never thought I'd be able to say that about a movie with four credited writers. Every time you think you can guess where it's going, it throws a curve. It was also very funny, which is nice because good comedies are becoming a rare species. John Cusack continues to show what a great actor he is as hitman Martin Blank. He doesn't wink at the audience, saying, Oh look, I'm a hitman, but plays him as normal, with the right amount of misgivings and tenacity. Minnie Driver is quite good as the woman he's still obsessed with (although she was good in GOOD WILL HUNTING, she should have been nominated for this performance), and Alan Arkin and Jeremy Piven were good, as ever, in support. The surprise, however, is Dan Aykroyd. Just when I was prepared to write him off forever, he comes through with a great performance here. The soundtrack is terrific too, avoiding the cliched 80's songs to provide a fresh, and compatible, score.