Killshot

A mob hit-man (Mickey Rourke) teams-up with a young psycho (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and they go after a separated couple (Diane Lane & Thomas Jane) who witnessed a botched hit. Rosario Dawson is on hand as the twerp's girlfriend.

"Killshot" (2008) is a thriller/drama by John Madden that supposedly had post-production problems, sat on a shelf, was reedited and whatever else. As such, some criticize that it doesn't flow well. Don't believe it. This is a very professionally-made film and I never got the sense that the story didn't flow, regardless of what they edited out, reedited or what have you. The story's easy to follow and makes sense.

Mickey Rourke is always a highlight even though he essentially plays the same character, which I guess most actors do. His character here is the same likable, brooding one seen in "The Wrestler" (2008) and "Passion Play" (2010) with the variation that he murders people for a living. Yes, that's a big difference and it does cause the viewer to disapprove of him but it's hard to hate him, unlike his two-bit partner. Somewhat likable or not, the Rourke character HAS to pay for his misdeeds (or should pay, at least).

Speaking of the twerp partner, Joseph Gordon-Levitt shines here as a scumbag with almost zero redeeming qualities. Something happens to him at the end and you just can't help saying "THANK YOU."

Thomas Jane is always a solid masculine protagonist as is Lane in the feminine department. The film is just as much about the potential reestablishment of their relationship as it is about the thugs trying to find them. But this is definitely a thriller/drama. You get a lot of quality drama interrupted by sudden and intense thrills.

The score's nice and atmospheric and there's a great song on the soundtrack ("Monkey" by Low).

The film runs 1 hour, 35 minutes, and was shot in Port Perry, Uxbridge and Toronto, Canada, as well as Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and Detroit.

GRADE: B.

KILLSHOT with Mickey Rourke, Diane Lane, Thomas Jane, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rosario Dawson and Hal Holbrook, directed by John Madden.

MICKEY Rourke's intense and interesting performance as a troubled hit-man lifts this structurally flawed adaptation of Elmore Leonard's gritty crime novel. Directed by John Madden ("Shakespeare in Love"), the film is never as much fun as the book, which was a violent, witty and richly enjoyable slice of ultra-sleazy pulp fiction. But, despite all it's fault (the movie was completed in 2006, but is only being released now), "Killshot" is not a total dead loss and is likely to be enjoyed by genre fans who approach it with low expectations. Oscar-nominee Rourke ("The Wrestler") plays Armand "The Blackbird" Degas ,a veteran, half Indian hit-man for the Toronto mob who slays his boss's girlfriend during a hit. Returning to the rural area where he was raised, he pairs up with dim-witted young psychopath Richie Nix (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). Then, when, when the lovely Carmen Colson (a sexy, effective Diane Lane) sees Armand's face during a botched crime, he decides she must die. And the chase is on. "Killshot is a rather messy film that shows evidence of post-production edits and re-shoots, but Armand, Carmen and Richie are classic Leonard characters, there're one or two good shoot-outs and at least the films retains some of the master crime writer's wonderful trademark dialogue. Nice scenery too. As a Leonard fanatic, I wouldn't have missed the chance to see this on the big screen for anything (it's been given a national cinema release in South Africa - not a huge one, but way bigger than five screens in Phoenix ). I wasn't expecting much, so I certainly was not disappointed. Quite a bit of the book comes through and although Gordon-Levitt - usually one of my favourite young actors - sometimes goes to far over the top, the supporting cast is pretty good. Thomas Jane and (a totally miscast) Rosario Dawson have some nice moments and there's a cool cameo by the great Hal Holbrook . However, the interaction between Armand and Carmen Colson is nowhere near as intriguing as in the book (perhaps this has something to do with the notorious Weinstein scissors) and even though the picture has been pruned to 84 minutes it still drags in the second half. Reading Elmore Leonard's website the other night, I noticed that the maestro has seen the film (apparently a 100-minute cut) and seems to have enjoyed it, which tells us something. This flawed, but watchable (there's a good film lurking in there somewhere) movie should have been released to more cinemas in the States. Sadly, it doesn't look as if that's going to happen, but I can tell you one thing. It's going to be a solid renter when it hits DVD. Hopefully the distributor will release both this 84-minute cut and a longer version on disc. And let's hope we get to see Johnny Knoxville's deleted scenes, and a director commentary. But I suppose it will only come out in a vanilla version shorn of special features.

My Rating: 6 out of 10 (on the big screen).

PS. Drop the score down to 5/10 for the DVD - I've now seen the (South African release)DVD which in the 1.78 aspect ration ratio rather than 2.35.1 and looks shoddy compared to how it looked on the big screen. The film really falls to pieces on a second viewing.

Rosario Dawson Week: Day 5

John Madden's Killshot went through the ninth ring of production hell before it was finally released in 07 or so, after like three years of gathering dust on the shelf. The resulting film didn't win anyone over who waited all that time with baited breath, because you can see the cuts, chops and gaps in story where it's been muddled around with, no doubt by the fuckwit studio. I still love it, flaws and all. Based on an Elmore Leonard tale (you can never go wrong with his work, it's a sombre tale of psychopaths, assassins and one hapless estranged couple (Thomas Jane & Diane Lane) caught in between. When legendary native American hit-man Arman 'The Blackbird' Degas (Mickey Rourke) botches a job for the Toronto mafia, he's forced on the run, and hides out with aimless young lunatic criminal Ritchie Nix (Joseph Gordon Levitt), who somewhat reminds him of a litte brother he lost years before. Rourke pulls off the native angle quite well, and shows vague glimpses of a humanity that was once there and has long since been buried in violence. When Jane and Lane accidentally witness him murder someone, he won't let it go, pursuing them beyond rationality or reason, even to his own end. Levitt never gets to play the wild card, and he rocks his redneck sociopath brat role with scary aplomb. Rosario Dawson has an odd appearance as Ritchie's girlfriend, an elvis fan who is seemingly a little bit challenged upstairs. Watch for a cameo from Hal Holbrook as a crusty old mobster too. You'll just have to imagine the federal agent character played by Johnny Knoxville though, because he never made it into the film and can now only be seen in ages old trailers that were a false start. Despite it's issues, I find it to be an atmospheric little pulp outing that does have the classic Leonard feel, a hard bitten, cold-hearted turn from Rourke that's one of his best characters in recent years, and a mean, unforgiving narrative set in picturesque northern Canada. Give it a shot, it deserves way more love than its received so far.

When the professional killer Armand 'Blackbird' Degas (Mickey Rourke) falls in disgrace with the Mafia, he flees to another city in Canada. He stumbles upon the psychopath Richie Nix (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who lives with his girlfriend Donna (Rosario Dawson). Armand teams up with him and moves to his house. Richie summons Armand to participate in a scheme to take money from a wealthy real estate agent, but he commits a mistake and the couple Wayne Colson (Thomas Jane) and Carmen Colson (Diane Lane) witness their action. They are forced to join the Witness Protection Program by the FBI and they move to another town. But Armand and Ritchie are hunting them down since they are a thread.

"Killshot" is a surprisingly good thriller, with great story and cast. The screenplay is well-written and builds tension, despite the commercial conclusion. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Killshot - Tiro Certo" ("Killshot - Right Shot")

The story around this movie reminds me of the movie 'What Just Happened' which is about movie production and how a brutal atypical movie gets a bad preview screening and has to be strongly edited and isn't widely distributed. This is much the same situation, the movie is not filled with much beauty in life, other than Diana Lane. Always bad weather, depraved characters with few redeeming features, elements of hopelessness and it was apparently edited because of this. That said it's not bad. Professional editing, lighting, direction. Fairly catching story line, good acting and famous actors. I'm pretty sure I've seen widely released movies that were much worse. In what seems like a long dry spell of bad movies this winter, this can definitely be watched. Aside from a few clever details this isn't much different from 'No country for Old Men'