A Lista

I don't think it's a spoiler to say this film has a great deal to do with Collateral. Unfortunately, I think that perhaps the distributors also felt the same way, to the point of rejecting the film for fear of some kind of backlash. Although superficially it does share much with Collateral, it goes its own way, and has its own conclusion. And it's a good one. It may not be the most high- budget movie, and it may not be the best edited movie, but it does deliver better than most efforts seen lately, even in the big-budget category. Cuba may have a new career here as an Ice-T reminiscent bad-ass. Worth a matinée ticket.

For what it is, 8/10.

Just a few weeks after picking up Gooding's last film "Sacrifice", "The Hit List" was released. I picked it up because I am a pretty big fan of his. The film turned out to be pretty well done for a DTV thriller but just like "Sacrifice" it has it's flaws.

Jonas Arbor(Gooding) is a hit man and decides to go rouge. His reason unfolds throughout the movie but in doing this he runs into Allen(Cole Hauser) in a bar. Allen is having his own bad day by losing his promotion to a younger partner in his film and problems with his wife come to surface. Arbor and Allen meet in a bar and get drunk together. Jonas explains to Allen that he is a hit man and will kill five people for Allen free of charge. Thinking it is a joke Allen writes down names and laughs it off. It isn't long before he realizes its a joke and has to stop Jonas from completing the list.

The film has been compared to "Collateral" and while it is a fair comparison, the film does stand on its own. Its flaws lie in editing and lack of budget which is the same thing "Sacrifice" suffered from. The opening credits are done in almost a comedic or even a James Bond type of way and really turns the viewer away from what the tone is trying to be. The budget shows in the camera set ups and how rarely other angles are used. The DP obviously did not have the time or money to make the film look bigger. There is a car chase in the film that could have been much more exciting if the editing was better. All in all what saves the film is the performances by Hauser and Gooding. They do not play down to the budget level and they treat the film as if it is a big budget hit. Gooding assures the audience that he has still got it and reminds us of why he is capable of an award winning performance. He is deep and scary and really gets into the role more than he has in the last few years. The quality lies in the performances which is why this is an above average DTV Thriller.

Acting 9/10

Editing 5/10

Music 5/10

Directing 7/10

Fans of Gooding and Hauser should be pleased with this film.

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.

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...

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.