Killshot (2008)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

John Madden

Writers (WGA):

Hossein Amini (screenplay)
Elmore Leonard (novel)

Release Date:

13 November 2008 (Israel)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Yesterday she was a witness. Today she's a target.

Plot:

Beautiful Carmen Colson and her ironworker husband Wayne are placed in the Federal Witness Protection program after witnessing an "incident". Thinking they are at last safe, they are targeted by an experienced hit man and a psychopathic young upstart killer. The ensuing struggle will test Carmen to the limit.

Plot Keywords:

Witness Protection Program | Boots | Thief | Cadillac | Pistol

Cast

Mickey Rourke	...	Armand 'The Blackbird' Degas
Brandon McGibbon	...	Blackbird's Kid Brother
Peter Kelly Gaudreault	...	Blackbird's Brother
Michelle Arvizu	...	Nurse
Richard Zeppieri	...	Son-in-Law / Mafia Boss
Alexis Butler	...	Girl in Hotel Room
Hal Holbrook	...	Papa
Diane Lane	...	Carmen Colson
Robert Gow	...	Prospective Buyer #1
Catherine Hayos	...	Prospective Buyer #2
Thomas Jane	...	Wayne Colson
Craig Blair	...	Construction Site Foreman
Joseph Gordon-Levitt	...	Richie Nix
Lynne Deragon	...	Mrs. Palino
Rosario Dawson	...	Donna

Also Known As:

Киллер (Russia) [ru]
El ave Negra (Argentina) [es]
Killshot - Alvo a Abater (Portugal) [pt]
Killshott - Tiro Certo (Brazil) [pt]
O dolofonos einai edo (Greece) [el]

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, language and brief nudity.

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | Singapore:NC-16 | Finland:K-15 | Portugal:M/16 | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Cape Girardeau, Missouri, USA

Company:

FilmColony

Trivia:

Originally set up in 2002 with Tony Scott directing, Robert De Niro playing Amand Degas, and Quentin Tarantino playing Richie Nix.

Quotes:

Richie Nix: Well, my name's Richie Nix, in case you've ever heard of me. That's N-i-x; it's not the way Stevie Nicks spells hers.

Soundtrack:

Suspicion

Despite it's flaws, "Killshot" is not a total dead loss.

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.