The Liability

A little indie gem this from Britain, with a good Tim Roth in the center as a worn out disillusioned hit-man, but it's Peter Mullan which steals the show, with a delightfully nasty big shot criminal.

There's many reasons to like this, if you don't expect this to be an action flick. It's wrongfully labeled so, but this is a a crime drama, or really a road movie, Coen/Tarantino style. 1) Unpredictable mysterious plot (gives a good ride) 2) Great cool acting (stung cool play by all, but the naive Liability) 3) Extinguished filming (lots if great angles and smart details) 4) Delightful score (sophisticated, punky and dirty, would search out several songs) 5) Classic cars (loved the use and filming of the Granada Ghia) And there's more to it. I found myself feeling it as a cozy road movie which we expect to go wrong for some. Lovely lingering excitement, taking you to the next stop on the route.

If you like one of them smart little films with no extra fuzz, just great talent, this is it!

As the German title suggests ... though it does sound a bit like doomsday or something else. Whatever you think of a title, "Liability" is more accurate than the German title. The thriller is pretty straight forward. The story is self explanatory, but Tim Roth does add a lot of Gravita to it. You could almost say he kind of saves the movie all by himself, even though the female lead is beautiful.

The female lead might have a reason for being on screen, but ultimately she is just put on. The very ending feels like it is being dropped on the viewer, which is a bad feeling. The main bad guy, does a great job, but he isn't on screen that much, which is kind of a shame. A nice little thriller, nothing more nothing less

Tim Roth plays a hit man on his final job before his daughter gets married. Adam (Jack O'Connell) is an annoying 19 year old who accidentally discovers that his step father is more depraved than he thought. After crashing his step father's Mercedes, he is in his debt and he is given a job as a driver to pay him back. His contact is Roy (Tim Roth) and they go on Roy's last hit together. Wanting to be part of the gangster culture, Adam asks to be more than just a driver and things start to go wrong, especially when 'the girl' gets involved.

The film is quite light hearted, considering its content and, at times is comical. Both lead actors play their parts quite well and create an enjoyable partnership. The storyline is a little week and everything that can go wrong, does goes wrong. I found myself rooting for Adam in the end and, despite being a professional killer, Roth's character is quite appealing.

Overall, a mediocre film that I will not watch again but it was reasonably enjoyable, light hearted and funny in places.

Finding the hitman's apprentice (as was the title I watched) to review it took more time than actually reviewing it.

Interesting film, worth a watch with a couple of good twists to it.

(50%) Rising star Jack O'Connell comes very near to shinning in this crime drama, but sadly the film just doesn't have what it takes to supplement his talent owing in no small part to a script that just is quite as good as it needs to be. So this is no classic, but it's still a decent watch and way better than the lower end British crime/hooligan sludge you see cluttering the direct to DVD section. Tim Roth is as you'd expect in support (perfectly fine), and the direction tries to lift the somewhat awkwardly told plot, it's just a shame this just doesn't have the depth. Overall not a bad film at all, and worth a look for O'Connell in a early starring role, just don't expect a low budget marvel.