The Hit List

The idea is peculiar, but logically and well founded, so the events following the meeting in the bar could actually happen. The value of the movie is diminished by the hit-man's past employers (another conspiracy theory?) and trivial/expected ending. However, the scenes around the people on the list are catchy to follow.

An Oscar winner Cuba Gooding, Jr. (as Jonas Arbor) gives another great performance. As for the leading actor Cole Hauser (as Allan Campbell), he was good as well, although it was my first real experience with him (I realized that I have seen many movies with his participation, but never distinguished him). Other performances were nothing special or even mediocre.

Nevertheless, The Hit List is recommended as a good and short (less than 1,5 hours) action. And, perhaps, the occurrence of bad jokes declines after seeing this...

This movie is very entertaining. The acting of Cuba Gooding Jr. and Cole Hauser make this movie good. The story is nice, there are only a few lines the writers could have had a second look at, but it is bearable, and the action is good. But the idiot that thought Jonathan LaPaglia could act must be fired on the spot, every time he is in the picture he brings the whole move down, but again, thank god for Cuba Gooding Jr.and Cole Hauser. The movie has something of Collatoral Damage, but is much more fun. I don't understand some of the bad reviews, you just can't go wrong with this movie, it is little gem. I have never seen a William Kaufman movie, but this inspired me to see another one right away.

Cole Hauser is in a bar drinking. He's seated next to Cuba Gooding Jr. Gooding claims he is a hit man, and offers to kill five people for Hauser. Thinking this is nonsense, Hauser writes down his top five picks. Gooding proceeds to kill them.

You'd expect this to be a nothing film. It's surprisingly good, in no small part due to Gooding's performance as a creaky-voiced maniac fixated on Hauser, trying to teach him some sort of weird life lesson. Don't talk to strangers? Don't make wishes that other people would be dead? Take some responsibility for your life? It's not clear. Probably the writers didn't really care; Gooding's role is to be the Terminator and die. Whatever Gooding does to make us think there's some motivation behind his actions is good acting.

I've come to the conclusion that Cuba Gooding Jr. has accepted his downfall to direct-to-DVD movies, because he doesn't seem to be trying to pick good projects anymore, including this one. In fairness, this project isn't as bad as some of his other turkeys. For a low budget direct-to-DVD project, the production values are okay, though there are signs of cost-cutting throughout (such as a number of close-ups and very few wide shots). The police in this movie don't come across as dumb as they do in other B movies, and the movie did interest me enough to wonder how the situation would be wrapped up in the end - though honestly, it wasn't worth the wait. The screenplay has a number of other problems, with some decisions by the hero to be so idiotic that I was groaning out loud, and some implausibilities by others that make no sense when you think about them closely. (For example, think about the way Gooding's character kills the second person on the list.) Gooding is simply unconvincing as a ruthless hit-man, and Hauser has to somehow make his stupid and spineless character sympathetic, which sees far beyond his abilities. If you ask me, more thought and planning went into the fancy opening credits sequence than with the rest of the movie.

This is the kind of movie that you could feel since the beginning that the director should be making sandwiches in a cafeteria. With the performance of Cuba Gooding Jr. here compared to Men of Honor ( 2000 ) anyone can see what a difference can make a good director. The girl is pretty but is out of timing though for moments she gets on the roll. The scenario or the background looks cheap and boring, thats because the movie's budget was very low even though the director I think that for a job like this he refuse to be paid. The script is so so, not even close to Jackie Chan movie. Finally, this movie looks like a students film.