The Assassin

After scouring the choices on Amazon Prime Video we finally found several interesting movies that filled the bill. BUT, on this movie, the plot really seemed intriguing yet the execution disappointed - big time. Slow, brooding, meandering plot failed to ignite any interest. With so many choices readily available. why waste time?

Supposedly the film was done in 2007 but the obvious production values resemble more like the late '60s- out of focus, LOW resolution, bad lighting. Bad sound. Trying to give it the benefit of the doubt, we watched until the 60 minute mark - it did not get better. Soundtrack was sadly dated. Waste of time.

Simple and brutal, the film follows Assassin John Brown, a numbed out junkie and Iraqi War veteran. In the course of a botched hit, Brown meets a beautiful night club singer only to find she is entwined with the shadowy corporate executive who hired him. With the cops and the corporate goons closing in, Brown rediscovers a reason to live, but can he save the girl and himself in time?

The actors are all well cast. The film is full of extremely memorable and unique characters. John Brown (played masterfully by director Devin E. Haqq) leads his pursuers on a foot chase through Midtown Manhattan and the filmmakers pull off the kind of ballsy 1970's-style location shooting then even big-budget features rarely try these days.

A cinema verite love letter to the city of New York - The showpiece of the film. A hard boiled gem in the tradition of the French New Wave film that inspired it, Jean-Pierre Melville's LE SAMURAI.

Not bad, but I like the Nexus Studios version more. It's kind of a waste of a Saterday night but a good Tuesday afternoon kinda movie. I would also add that I am writing this because I got hired for a newspaper. Would I recommend this movie? No, but to an Armeen (go see urban dictionary), I would.

"Not bad, but I like the Nexus Studios version more. It's kind of a waste of a Saterday night but a good Tuesday afternoon kinda movie. I would also add that I am writing this because I got hired for a newspaper. Would I recommend this movie? No, but to an Armeen (go see urban dictionary), I would."