Vendetta

Forget the flashy but empty "cor blimey guv" Brit crime movies of the last few years like 'Snatch' and 'Sexy Beast'. Apart from 'Croupier' and 'Gangster No. 1', most of them aren't worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as the brilliant but largely forgotten 'The Long Good Friday', 'Mona Lisa', and the most underrated of all, 'The Hit'. Terence Stamp, playing a character not too dissimilar from the one he later portrays in 'The Limey', is a former gangster who grassed up his criminal mates years earlier. Now living in semi-retirement in Spain he is unexpectedly kidnapped by two hoods (John Hurt and, in one of his earliest screen roles, Tim Roth) who plan on taking him to Paris and killing him as punishment for betraying the criminal code. Of course, things don't go quite as planned and along the way the sexy Laura del Sol gets forced against her will to accompany them. This is a very fresh and interesting film that is more character than action based so might not appeal to the Guy Ritchie crowd. It's their loss. Stamp is just brilliant and his interaction with Hurt and Roth makes this a must see movie. The supporting cast also includes the legendary Fernando Rey ('The French Connection') as the cop on their trail, and Aussie veteran Bill Hunter as a crim in the wrong place at the wrong time. 'The Hit' is one of the most overlooked British movies of the last twenty years, and highly recommend viewing for all discerning movie buffs.

Before Diving into this film... And I honestly feel it deserves a DEEP DIVE....

But FIRST: Let Us FOCUS on this TITLE´s CONTENT & CONTEXT:

Sometimes things don't work out as expected. Sometimes a little reflection helps put things in perspective. The review you're reading now is vastly different from the one I sat down to write last night. The Hit seemed to have betrayed itself and short-changed the viewer by radically violating the principals set down throughout the course of the film. But that was last night. Today, at lunch, I "got it"! Last night you were getting the 2.75* Review. Luckily, patience and a little reflection, seem to have paid off: Today you're getting the 4.25* Deluxe Version! Willie Parker (Terence Stamp) is a former criminal who has had years to reflect on his life and on life, and death, in general. He has taken up reading books on philosophy, books on history, poetry, psychology and pretty much anything he can lay his hands on. Being a man in his 40's, he strikes one as a little young to be retired. Well, He isn't! Willie is living in rural Spain in the European Union's version of the Witness Protection Program; seeing as how he ratted out his buddies back in England 10 years earlier. Surprisingly, they didn't seem to buy Willie's explanation that "He had seen the light & it felt like the right thing to do". Willie's day of reckoning comes when his ex-blokes have him kidnapped and brought to justice, E. U. Mafia style. Throughout his entire ordeal, Willie looks more like someone going on a picnic than a guy who's about to decorate the wall with his brains. His captors, an icy jaded pro (John Hurt) and his hapless, hot-tempered apprentice (Tim Roth, in a breakthrough role) stand incredulous before Willie's apparent calm & indifference to his plight. Remember how SNL's Rosanna Rosanadana used to say..."It's always SOMETHING!" Well, in the course of transporting their victim to the slaughter, it's one constant "Something" after another. When The Hit is over (assuming you "get it") you'll have a slight smile on your face and a twinkle in your eye...just like the icy hit man's!

Low key drama is very interesting if you give it time and listen to the dialog. The acting by the four main characters is effective, the story is straightforward, and the outcome is always in doubt. Special mention must be made of the excellent score and scenery. John Hurt elicits tension with his minimalist performance. Terrence Stamp shows detached indifference to his pending fate. Tim Roth and Laura Del Sol also give convincing performances. Some terrific camera angles and sharp direction adds to the overall enjoyment of "The Hit". This is not a loud movie, but rather a very quiet one that will hold your attention despite a leisurely pace. - MERK

Ten years ago Willie Parker testified in court against some of his criminal buddies and ever since then, has been waiting for them to settle the score while hiding out in Spain. Soon enough his tracked down by two hit men, the slick professional Braddock and his raw rookie Myron. Who plan to take him back to Paris to meet up with those he done in, but on their trip there they stop off at a Madrid apartment that includes an unplanned kidnapping of a young Spanish girl, Maggie. Through the trip Parker's pondering manner starts getting on the pairs' nerves and the feisty Maggie makes matters even worse. Nothing is truly going to plan with these constant distractions and the Spanish police are hot on their trail.

I wasn't expecting to like "The Hit" as much as I did. But came away really enjoying and thinking highly of this oddity, after knowing nothing about it to begin with. It was neat blind purchase (well, it only cost $2), which really did pay off. This colourfully kooky British crime feature has a premise that likes play mind games by breezily building upon the animated characters and random situations they find themselves stuck in. It's about them finding their feet and coming to terms that death might be around the corner. Nothing to fear in something you shouldn't be afraid off. Peter Prince's tautly fleshed out script has real sensitivity about it and goes down well with the simple road trip storyline. While rather talkative, the dialogue driven outing has a lyrically deeper underbelly, where personalities clash with amusingly engaging and wittily sly results. Action is little, but it doesn't suffer from it and when it unfold, its intensely drawn up. Director Stephen Frears paints a poetically subdued feel to it with such freshly assured and suave direction. He truly sets up some beautiful visions without losing any of that brutal edge when called for (the surprising climax takes the cake). Mick Molloy's fetchingly sublime photography-work incorporates the alluringly picturesque backdrop of Spain with elegant scope. He even frames diverse scenes with inspired shots that have you in awe. Eric Clapton plugs away for the sweepingly airy opening title and Paco de Lucia stirringly upbeat Spanish flavour to the music score kicks up the energy levels and unpredictable vibe. The technical side of the production is pretty top-draw and sufficiently done. The performances are all marvellous in crafting out their characters and feeding off each other with believable chemistry. An outstandingly novel John Hurt plays the professionally cool, tough as nails hit-man Braddock with such cold venom. Character actor Tim Roth (in his film debut) is brilliant in a total opposite persona as a young clueless, hot-wired rookie Myron getting a little too attached to their captivates. Terence Stamp stands-out in his turn of the lively accepting Willie Parker, who throws up some words of wisdom along the way and strangely becomes fixated with his closing destiny. Laura del Sol dashingly fine as the strong willed Maggie who adds the sparks. Also showing up in short, but potent roles is Aussie actor Bill Hunter and Fernando Rey playing an officer closing on their tails.

"The Hit" is a focused, well thought-out production that I believe to be perfect across the board. Some people might find it to lead nowhere, but seductively enterprising is what comes to my mind.

Terence Stamp is aces as a criminal who rats out his associates, then spends a decade hiding out in Spain. But his time is now up: two hitmen, the icy cold Braddock (John Hurt) and the cocky young Myron (Tim Roth, in his theatrical debut) have tracked him down. Now they are transporting him back to his execution in England. But things don't go quite the way that everybody expects, and Braddock & Myron end up taking a young Spanish woman (the sexy and feisty Laura Del Sol) along with them, and the idea of what to do with the captives seems to change from moment to moment.

"The Hit" is a solid British crime feature done with intelligence and nuance. While it has the typical violence for the genre, it doesn't play out the way that this viewer really expected. What made the difference is that this story (written by Peter Prince) focuses far more on the characters and the journey than the destination. And the characters are an interesting bunch. Stamps' character Willie Parker in particular takes a philosophical approach to his destiny that also functions as the theme of the story. He gets over his fear and resigns himself to his fate - something that Braddock apparently doesn't like.

Stamp and Hurt deliver standout performances in a film that also benefits from the chemistry among its cast. Although it's become something of a cliche by now to have two criminal types with contrasting styles, it's fun here to see the odd-couple dynamic between Hurts' Braddock and Roths' Myron. Del Sol has sufficient appeal to make the viewer tense about what might happen to her, and Aussie actor Bill Hunter is quite good in his brief appearance as a criminal who merely happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. But Fernando Rey is rather wasted in his role as a senior policeman who usually just arrives at crime scenes after the fact, until a rather abrupt finale. Look for British character actors Willoughby Gray, Jim Broadbent, and Ralph Brown in small roles.

Although not as well as known as other favorites in the British crime genre, this is definitely worth your time, especially if you admire the actors, and the highly capable director, Stephen Frears, who went on to do films like "Dangerous Liaisons", "The Grifters", and "The Queen".

Eight out of 10.