This is a very good movie by first time writer/director Keith Snyder about a Philadelphia homicide detective who hires a hit man to kill him because he thinks he's dying. The story plays against the background of a serial killer on the loose.
Det. Emmett Young is told he has a week before he has to check himself into a hospital where he will surely die a painful death. While sitting in a restaurant having a cup of coffee and looking very depressed, a stranger approaches and tells the young detective that he was a cop once and things can't be all that bad. The two go and have a few drinks and Emmett tells him the truth, that he's going to die soon. Eventually the conversation gets around to what Emmett should do, and the man offers to find someone to kill him for $15,000, and after thinking it over, Emmett decides that's the best way to end it.
The stranger isn't who he appears to be however. He isn't a retired FBI agent, he's a sleazy lawyer with a record for fraud, and he approaches an acquaintance to do the hit. The man is an ex-cop who killed a young detective once because he was jealous of losing a promotion to him - the sleazy lawyer got him off.
About halfway through the film, Emmett learns there's been a mistake and he was given another patient's diagnosis - he only has a bad viral infection. Now the dilemma, how to find the guy who contracted his own hit and stop things from happening.
I won't spoil the ending, but the plot takes a few twists and turns, and things don't turn out the way you think they will.
The director scored a major coup by getting two excellent actors to play major roles in this movie. Gabriel Byrne plays the sleazy stranger who arranges the hit, and Tim Roth plays the ex-cop contracted to carry it out. Byrne is an underutilized actor who deserves more roles like this because he's very good. Tim Roth is the one who really stands out, however. He plays the dimwitted killer with dead eyes perfectly. The end scene when he finally confronts Emmett was excellent, and different.
Scott Wolf plays Emmett Young, and though he looks more like a choir boy than a big city homicide detective, he handles the part well enough. The rest of the cast is unknowns but they carry the story along very well also.
I never heard of this film when it came out last year, which is too bad because it's much better than a lot of the better known police dramas that got all the notice. Definitely a good one to rent and Keith Snyder is someone to watch in the future.
Det. Emmett Young is told he has a week before he has to check himself into a hospital where he will surely die a painful death. While sitting in a restaurant having a cup of coffee and looking very depressed, a stranger approaches and tells the young detective that he was a cop once and things can't be all that bad. The two go and have a few drinks and Emmett tells him the truth, that he's going to die soon. Eventually the conversation gets around to what Emmett should do, and the man offers to find someone to kill him for $15,000, and after thinking it over, Emmett decides that's the best way to end it.
The stranger isn't who he appears to be however. He isn't a retired FBI agent, he's a sleazy lawyer with a record for fraud, and he approaches an acquaintance to do the hit. The man is an ex-cop who killed a young detective once because he was jealous of losing a promotion to him - the sleazy lawyer got him off.
About halfway through the film, Emmett learns there's been a mistake and he was given another patient's diagnosis - he only has a bad viral infection. Now the dilemma, how to find the guy who contracted his own hit and stop things from happening.
I won't spoil the ending, but the plot takes a few twists and turns, and things don't turn out the way you think they will.
The director scored a major coup by getting two excellent actors to play major roles in this movie. Gabriel Byrne plays the sleazy stranger who arranges the hit, and Tim Roth plays the ex-cop contracted to carry it out. Byrne is an underutilized actor who deserves more roles like this because he's very good. Tim Roth is the one who really stands out, however. He plays the dimwitted killer with dead eyes perfectly. The end scene when he finally confronts Emmett was excellent, and different.
Scott Wolf plays Emmett Young, and though he looks more like a choir boy than a big city homicide detective, he handles the part well enough. The rest of the cast is unknowns but they carry the story along very well also.
I never heard of this film when it came out last year, which is too bad because it's much better than a lot of the better known police dramas that got all the notice. Definitely a good one to rent and Keith Snyder is someone to watch in the future.
