Killshot (2008)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

John Madden

Writers (WGA):

Hossein Amini (screenplay)
Elmore Leonard (novel)

Release Date:

13 November 2008 (Israel)

Genre:

Action | Crime | 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 | Topless Female Nudity | Gun Held To Head | Shot To Death | Voice Over Narration

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

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, language and brief nudity.

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | Singapore:NC-16 | Finland:K-15 | Portugal:M/16 | Iceland:16 | Germany:16 | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Mexico:B15

Filming Locations:

Cape Girardeau, Missouri, USA

Company:

FilmColony

Trivia:

The release date changed several times because the film has undergone a series of re-shoots after it's original completion date in January 2006.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: After Richie Nix's shooting rampage in the gas station, a close up reveals that his shotgun is an obvious cheap plastic replica.

Quotes:

[towards end of film]
Wayne Colson: Look, honey, just hear me out. I drove 400 miles. And 15 years to think about this. And a lot about what you've said lately. You're right, five's not a good number. It's terrible. So let's try six. And if we can make it to six, then we can try for seven.

Soundtrack:

It Hurts Me

not as bad as expected, just not very impressive overall

Killshot should have had its day in court theatrically. It was a property that had been in the works for many years dating back to the mid-90s with the Weinsteins and nearly being made with a very intriguing pairing of De Niro in what is now Mickey Rourke's part of Blackbird and Quentin Tarantino in the role Joseph Gordon-Levitt's part of Richie Nix. And now, several years later, it comes to us direct to DVD (if it had a theatrical release I certainly missed it somehow), and considering its presentation as such, without any special features (out of shame or just not being able to get anyone for comment?) it's not that bad. At least, not as bad as one might expect, that it would be another total bastardization of a classic Elmore Leonard novel filled with talky tough guys and flawed good guys and one of those plots that's more about character than story. Well, at least not entirely.

Its story is simple: hired killer with a bad rep, Blackbird, is seen by a guy (Thomas Jane) and his ex (Diane Lane) at a real estate office, and he and his not-really partner/mentee low-life Richie Nix need to go after them, because, as the line goes "she's seen my face." There's witness protection program moving, and eventually the killers follow up on their targets, yada yada. The story seems fine, on paper. But there's something curious to it not being super suspenseful or engaging all the time (though there are some exceptions, which I'll get to in a moment), and I think it's due to John Madden's direction. It's slick but impersonal, without a whole lot of urgency and in a few scenes seemingly phoned-in. He's a director who's made a name with romance dramas sometimes successful (Shakespeare) and not (Corelli's Mandolin) and he doesn't feel at home directing something that should have been in more capable genre-director hands. Indeed, and I can't believe I'm writing this, the original choice, Tony Scott, would have been a more ideal candidate.

So if the script is only marginally strong, depending on when or when not it seems to take its cues (if not actually take from the source) of the Leonard novel (certain scenes like the Elvis dialog, or the joke about Nix "not like Stevie Nicks, have that Leonard feel, while the characters Lane and Jane play are barely two-dimensional), and the direction only competent, why the partial recommendation? Because, for the most part, the casting works. Mickey Rourke could have potentially sleep-walked through the part, but there is something of a good performance kicking around, and some scenes, like his last scene of dialog with Carmen is compelling and the method he employs (one can see Rourke sticking around Indian reservations for months for such a thankless film) work its stuff. Lane is also very good as the scared but strong Carmen, while Jane is... yeah, it's Thomas Jane, not so great.

But the real keeper here is Joseph Gordon-Levitt. This is an actor who has worked since he was young (I remember him as early as the Angels in the Outfield remake), and he's gotten better to the point that his name carries some weight. In Killshot we see him dig into what could be a conventional sociopath-maniac and give him life, moments that connect, like that very Leonard scene where he gives Carmen's mother a back-rub while in her house getting possible info. He, like Rourke, understand what potential there is in the material and seizes upon it. If the filmmakers were on the same page with (some) of the cast, it would be very memorable. Instead, it's something that one can feel a little bad for not making it just limited theatrically, but not that it may be forgotten in time like some other Leonard adaptations.