Lado A Lado Com Um Assassino

Galia is a Ukrainian prostitute stuck in Israel. Things get even worse when she is forced to carry assassinations for the criminals to which she is property. All day long, Galia does nothing but stay in her apartment, waiting for hit assignments. Eventually, she strikes a friendship with her neighbour, Elinor, who is herself victim of an abusive husband.

This movie combines several cliché elements yet delivers them in a captivating way and puts some real heart in what could easily have been another run-of-the-mill thriller. There's a definite Besson influence here, particularly elements of "Nikita" and "The Professional". Director Danny Lerner focuses on these two women, particularly Galia, and paints an ugly picture of a world where women are still basically "property". Alhough Galia carries cold, calculating hits like a pro, she turns into an obedient girl when facing her "bosses" and gets slapped around. As a viewer, it's tough not to cringe. Another interesting aspect as a North Anerican was the Israelian setting and the exploration of different cultures, since Galia herself is an outsider.

Ninette Tayeb is really solid as Elinor but it is Olga Kurylenko who really shines here. Other movies that she was featured in showed an actress with potential and here, she realizes much of it. In most scenes, she is very believable and the role is rather demanding as Olga shifts from recluse to opening to Elinor and from a fragile woman to a cold hearted killer. The script helps but the whole story depends on Kurylenko's ability to draw us in and make us understand when words are lacking.

The finale is thrilling enough and fans of "Carlito's Way" will see a nice nudge to this film's own finale as a bunch of crooks pursue Olga and Elinor in a terminal station. Much like Besson, Lerner has crafted a movie that mixes the grittiness of an old school Scorcese with the more naive vibe of a classic Hollywood flick.

The result is a solid thriller with an international flavor and a great cast.

The content in here was pretty intense for a large part with some decent performance and dialogue in kind sprinkled between the polarizing characters and mixed with some flashy action. I'd give it a recommend if you like the genre or subject in particular otherwise I think it can be tough for a casual watch.

The action is pretty decent and it stays true to it's origins (language wise, you will hear a few languages spoken throughout the entire movie). It has a strong leading performance by Olga K. (also known for her role in the most recent Bond movie, not that much for her Hit-man turn-up). Apart from that you have good to decent acting throughout, but a few scenes fall short of the premise.

This is a very sensible theme and the director did a decent job in portraying that. Still there are quite a few flaws (like length and dialogue choices, clichés) that might hinder you from rating this movie higher. Than again, I just read a 10/10 review and the user sounded pretty convincing. So it's up to you, if you see more than I did or agree with me

3 November 2017. It's important to be aware that this movie is not an action movie, but a dramatic thriller. With the word Assassin in the movie title, there's an implicit bias towards believing that this movie will be full of sophisticated violence in the mold of Haywire (2010) or La Femme Nikita (1990). Instead what this predominately Israeli production offers is a drama involving a woman who apparently is trapped in a vicious criminal gang who forces her to do awful things. As such, the storyline actually involves two women, both having to contend with their own abusive situations.

The forlorn musical score along with a strong script involving the plight of a ordinary, but rather good looking females facing very difficult life decisions tugs at the heart and thrills with the unknown outcome and life choices facing each women. This is a straight forward no-nonsense look at human trafficking and domestic violence along with a gun for added suspense. Additionally, in a moving and riveting musical number with the ending credits, Ninette Tayeb who played the principal role of Elinor, that she wrote and sang. Rarely has the lyrics during an ending credits been so intertwined with the movie itself that it actually becomes part of actual movie as a lyrical scene unto itself.

Most audience members who come into this movie with preconceptions might easily be quite disappointed with what they experienced to what they wanted to see. Nevertheless, the movie itself, such disappointments can't take away the definite foreign flavor of this intense and moving movie. The only few problems with the movie might include the over-use of the same lonely and sad melody which could have been remedied with perhaps one additional piece, the almost unbelievable gun battle scenes with what might be considered too many against one, and finally the surprising absence of local security or rapid response around various public places considering this movie supposedly takes place in Israel, not the most safest place in the world.

However, these few weaknesses don't really diminish the captivating storyline, the human interest and internal struggle of these two women who have to make tough decisions against great odds.

who ever thinks that the story is unrealistic, is not familiar with the Russian immigrant's life in Israel. Some of them come from Russia as teachers and then, end up as security guards and even prostitutes, just because of the Language difficulties.

this movie performs the relationship between two women who gets hit and beaten by men who has power over them. It shows both their struggle and confrontations with the men in the movie, and their special connection. And that's the reason why I like this movie, it showed how much they both hated their jobs and their lives and how much they are the same.

So, yeah, it's not a Hollywood made movie, it doesn't have great action like most thrillers ,it's not brilliant or close, but it does have good drama, good acting, good shots (in my opinion) and good story ,that I've already said.

I'm Recommending it...