Movie Summary of Killshot by Michael The Moviegoer.
KILLSHOT = ***
“Shot Straight To DVD”
“How bad can it be?” Those are the famous last words of people holding an attractive straight-to-DVD release in their hands while contemplating whether or not they should watch it. Many of these non-theatrical releases have big-name stars who just took the role to get a paycheck. Or maybe a movie idea that looked good on paper turned out bad due to the incompetence of an inexperienced director. Or maybe Alan Smithee had something to do with it!
But rarely, if ever, do you find a direct-to-DVD release starring three recent Oscar nominees and directed by a man who also made a film that won the Best Picture Oscar. That is the mystery behind the movie “Killshot” which skips a theatrical release to arrive this week on DVD. “How bad can it be?” The answer is, it’s not awful! Certainly there have been far worse films getting theatrical releases, especially this year’s “Taken” and “Two Lovers”.
“Killshot” stars Mickey Rourke, last year’s comeback kid with an Oscar nomination for “The Wrestler”. It also stars past Oscar nominee Diane Lane (for “Unfaithful”). And it even has a great scene with Hal Holbrook, a recent Oscar nominee for “Into The Wild”. The director is John Madden who also directed 1998’s “Shakespeare In Love” which famously won the Best Picture Oscar beating Steven Spielberg’s “Saving Private Ryan”. Also, “Killshot” is beautifully photographed by Caleb Deschanel. Oh yeah, and it’s adapted from a novel by Elmore Leonard. So, really, how bad can it be???
Rourke plays a mafia hit man. Diane Lane and Thomas Jane witness a botched murder attempt by Rourke and therefore become his next targets.
I know what “Killshot” wants to be. It wants to be “Pulp Fiction” as directed by The Coen Brothers. But the script doesn’t have Tarantino’s intelligence or The Coens’ dark humor. Still, it’s a suspenseful tension-filled thriller that could have easily made millions at the box office with a proper theatrical release. Somebody must have really pissed off Harvey Weinstein because the film’s straight-to-DVD status feels like a childish punishment.
DVD Watch: One of my favorite movies about a hitman is Luc Besson’s “Leon The Professional”. Released theatrically in the U.S. as “The Professional” with 24 minutes deleted, this excellent film has since been restored and is currently available on DVD. It stars Jean Reno, Gary Oldman, and the debut of future star Natalie Portman. Make sure to see the director’s version under the title “Leon The Professional”.
Michael The Moviegoer
