The Piano Player

I rented this film expecting it to be like The Point Men, Vercingetorix and Lambert's latest crap films. But I was surprised it wasn't that bad. It runs at less then 90 minutes...although it can be a quite boring film (feels like 2 hours). The film tells the story of a rich lawyer (Dennis Hopper) who lives in South Africa and his life is in danger, some voodo/vodoo practicing crimelord wants him dead, so he (Hopper) brings in the help of Christopher Lambert to protect him. The film has a series of flashbacks which all make sense when you see the end of the film. There are some very beautiful shots of the South African landscape. I'll give this a 5.5/10, it's better then the latest turkeys Lambert has released on video lately and if you always thought of going to South Africa...this film might convince you to go.

I have to admit, when I saw the cast, I did expect a lot more than what I got served. You could say it is a bit my fault for expecting ... but on the other hand I really do not know what to make of this movie overall.

The action is decent I guess .. but considering the people in front of the screen, you sometimes might wonder if there are amateurs at work. It has a couple of moments - and Dennis Hopper almost channels Gary Busey ... but not at his craziest level ... still quite mad. And the resolution/ending? Again not many words for that I can convey what ... it is ... what it tries to do - I know it does not succeed on any real level.

It's one of my favorite movies, alongside with City of God, Emperor and Assassin, etc. And I don't know exactly why.

Well, it's not a masterpiece. But there's something what intrigued me very much.

First of all, this movie is (about) a journey. It's amazing journey of a cynical modern man. Journey to the childhood, the family, humanity, truth.

Second thing, which I very like in this movie, is atmosphere. There's something of "magic realism" of Africa/Latin America definitely.

When i visit IMDb, I was really surprised, how underrated is this movie. Maybe it's because the actors?

Before watching THE PIANO PLAYER I assumed it would have been terrible because of its score of 4,2 and very few reviews (a common thing with many Christopher Lambert movies). When I saw it six months ago I didn't found it exceptional but still decent.

Assassin and piano player Alex Laney (Lambert) is seen committing two murders at the beginning and soon is hired for going in Cape Town and being the bodyguard of Robert Nile (Dennis Hopper) and his daughter Erika (Diane Kruger) because Nile is the key witness for the prosecution of a powerful gangster. After some goons try to kill Nile and his daughter they move with Alex on the mountains and not only they'll become friends with the locals but also gradually defeat their enemy.

I have to agree with some reviewers that this film looks a bit slow despite it lasts just 1 hour and 56 minutes, and also that the ending was a bit too predictable. But there are some things I nearly loved and they are the reason why I couldn't bring myself to give it a 2. I loved the part shot in Cape Town, the locations were very nice and the soundtrack in that part was also good and nostalgic even for folks who weren't adult in 2002. Christopher Lambert, say what you want about his acting abilities, he gave actually one of his decent performances. Dennis Hopper came off better, and Diane Kruger is good too considering this is her debut.

In substance, it's best if you don't read the reviews before you see it because if you don't have expectations you might actually like it.

The Piano Player, or The Target in the U.S., is a movie that begins with an interesting plot but loses its focus towards the middle. Christopher Lambert plays Alex Laney, an unconvincing hitman who must protect Robert Nile (Dennis Hopper), a lawyer who knows the truth about the leader of a South African mob. The problem with this movie, other than it drags, is that there's no development of the Lambert character. There's one scene where his hitman qualities shine when he saves Nile's daughter from kidnappers but his hitman character is ultimately weak and unbelievable. We witness the death of his parents when he's a child (the past of all hitmen must show why they do what they do) but the his passion to kill or protect doesn't go far. Alex Laney is a bad role for Christopher Lambert or any actor. When Robert Nile visits a small town where he was brought up we lose interest in the story because the tension dies and the mood is off tangent. It's too bad because Dennis Hopper is a great character actor who wasted his presence on this movie and Christopher Lambert (whom I'm a fan of for Highlander although I think his best work is in Subway) must certainly choose his roles more carefully. An actor need not be very diverse in roles but should pick roles suitable for his range.