Killshot (2008) User Reviews

Suspense, Thriller, Romance and Missing Pieces

[gradyharp · 7/10 · 30 May 2009]

KILLSHOT is far from being a great movie. I suppose it could be said that it isn't even a movie, but instead a DVD project as it has a rather leaden history. But though there was no theatrical release to garner public interest and little promotional material about its shelf release, it may just find an audience among word of mouth promotion. It has enough elements to keep the interest of even late at night tired viewers - and that says a lot these days. Elmore Leonard's novel has been reconstructed by Hossein Amini and John Madden has done his best to string together the various beads of the plots that comprise this story, and the result is a film peppered by some worthwhile actors who do their best to make the implausible story lines work.

Armand 'Blackbird' Degas (Mickey Rourke) is a long time hit-man, an American Indian with a past pasted together by tragedies who accepts an assignment to make a new kill. His plan is disrupted by his accidental and maladaptive association with a bona fide psychopath Richie Nix (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and girlfriend Donna (Rosario Dawson). Nix decides to partner with Blackbird and in the process they encounter a 'couple on the rocks' - Carmen and Wayne Colson (Thomas Jane and Diane Lane) - who happen to witness an incident that puts them in danger of Nix and Blackbird's recipe for not leaving witnesses. The couple is put on Witness Protection Program but that doesn't dent the clever Blackbird from accomplishing his goals. The rest of the story is a cat and mouse chase that has some moments of real terror. And as in most of Leonard's stories, things don't turn out the way they seem to suggest.

Things are missing from this film that create holes in the story and stretch credibility. The work by the lead actors is quite good as is that of the momentary cameos by such luminaries as Hal Holbrook and Lois Smith. A great film this is not, but a film that maintains attention/tension it is and worth an evening's entertainment. Grady Harp

Great stuff

[NateWatchesCoolMovies · 7/10 · 24 August 2015]

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.

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

[JeffersonCody · 6/10 · 26 January 2009]

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.

Excellent cast + Terrible scenario = Mediocre result

[ghostlander · 6/10 · 26 April 2009]

I've watched this film after getting suggested by a friend of mine. First of all, I did take a look at the cast: Mickey Rourke, Rosario Dawson, Diane Lane, Tom Jane... I thought that I couldn't go wrong even with Rourke and Dawson alone like in Sin City, but I was mistaken.

Rourke pretends to be a Native Indian, and does his job real good, but he is no Native Indian even nearly. The character of Rosario Dawson is wasted totally, you can cut it off and forget easily. Diane Lane did her part just fine. Tom Jane tried to perform like a super-man from The Punisher, but he was clearly no supposed to.

The story line is predictable extremely. Even though the whole thing starts up pretty promising, it degrades in quality quickly and leads to a dumb, really dumb end. I cannot believe that a professional hit-man can do so many mistakes one after another. And I do know for sure what a close shot of Remington 870 means.

So, we have a mediocre thriller to watch once upon a time and never return. Without Rourke and Lane it wouldn't even score 6/10 in my opinion.

Edge of the seat stuff!

[valleyjohn · 7/10 · 30 April 2009]

Lots of actors seemingly heading for the scrap heap have made memorable comebacks. Burt Reynold in "Boogie Nights" , John Travolta in " Pulp Fiction" and Sylvester Stallone in " Copland" are the three obvious examples. The most recent High profile comeback has been Mickey Rourke in the magnificent film " The Wrestler" but was it just a flash in the pan?

When real estate agent Carmen Colson catches a glimpse of a hit-man named the Blackbird as he carries out a job, a subsequent request for her to testify against the aging gun for hire soon lands both Carmen and her husband, Wayne , in the Witness Protection Program. Blackbird isn't a man who likes to leave loose ends when it comes to his work, though, and now as the seasoned assassin and his psychotic partner attempt to catch the couple in their crosshairs, Carmen and Wayne are going to need much more than a few federal agents to make it out of increasingly deadly situation alive

Killshot is one of those low budget films that got a very limited release at the start of the year. In fact according to imdbPro.com in the first two weeks of release in the US it grossed just $17,000. When i read details like this it always rings alarm bells. I needn't have worried because Killshot is a really entertaining , well acted thriller of which i thoroughly enjoyed. I found Mickey Rourke's performance an intense one and he has proved to me that he is back with a bang for good! There is also some great acting from Joseph Gordon-Levitt and the gorgeous Diane Lane.

If your into violent gang related movies you wont be disappointed with Killshot. It delivers on all fronts. The story is believable as are the characters and the final twenty minutes produces real "edge of the seat" excitement. My only criticism is that it does have the feel of a Cable or straight to DVD movie but i cant quite put my finger on why. It shouldn't be a surprise that a film directed by John Madden is as entertaining considering he has brought us "Prime Suspect" , "Inspector Morse" and "Shakespeare in Love" in the past.

Killshot is released on DVD in the U.S on May the 26th and has no date yet for a cinema or DVD release here in the UK.

7 out of 10

not as bad as expected, just not very impressive overall

[Quinoa1984 · 6/10 · 20 June 2009]

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 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.

A bit gloomy but not bad

[dan-frederiksen · 6/10 · 19 March 2009]

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'

Rather disappointing

[tobias1808 · 4/10 · 22 March 2009]

I saw the movie after checking its rating on IMDb. Back then, it was at 8.0 and I thought, "wow! That must be a good one". I thought wrong. The beginning of the movie actually keeps what the plot promises, but then it goes exponentially down underneath its basement. I think without the character of Richie Nix, it might have been alright - although he is the reason the story line takes the course it does. The character is just too extreme for my liking, and hard to endure. Also, the journey the main character takes from the beginning of the story till its "climax" at the end is partly irrelevant and could easily have been omitted - the alternative is, I just did not understand the movie.

Although I must admit that it is "easy watching", and I had no problems sitting through the whole movie, when it had finished I was somewhat unimpressed by the ending. All in all, rather mediocre.

A diamond in the rough

[cadfile · 7/10 · 24 August 2010]

Killshot had some issues before it was released in 2008. The studio that owned it went through a sale, it needed a lot of re-shoots, and a character was dropped completely from the film after a bad test screening. The film got a very limited release then went straight to DVD. This is one of the few times a straight to DVD film is actually decent. It was based on a book by Elmore Leonard.

The film stars Mickey Rourke (Blackbird) as a hired mob assassin who makes a mistake and his hunted by his employer. He meets up with a psychopathic small time hood excellently played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Richie). They attempt to shake down a real estate agent but end up mistaking Wayne Colson played by Thomas Jane for the agent. Wayne ends up beating up Blackbird and Richie. Wayne's wife Carmen, played by Diane Lane, who works at the same agency sees the fight and sees Blackbird. It seems Blackbird has a thing about people seeing him work and he decides that Wayne and Carmen need to die.

The rest of the film deals with Blackbird and Richie trying to kill the Colsons.

I really wasn't expecting much but the plot kept me interested. Rourke was believable as a native American and Gordon-Levitt just chewed up scene after scene as his buddy in crime.

Thomas Jane as Wayne was decent. He was a bad ass when he needed to be and he could do well in the tender moments with the wife.

Diane Lane had her "A" game on. She shines in the last third of the movie especially during the final confrontation with Blackbird and his friend.

If this had gotten better support from the studio and a real theatrical release I feel it would have done okay at the box office. Rent or buy this and see if it comes on TV.

Ouch!!

[innocuous · 4/10 · 30 May 2009]

Well, Killshot is not awful, but it comes close. Production values are decent and the main actors do a pretty good job (except for Rosario Dawson in a wasted role), but the story is just pathetic. I don't know if the Elmore Leonard book had such dumb characters,since I haven't read it, but I'm guessing that the book was supposed to be at least slightly humorous. The movie has no detectable humor. After the first twenty minutes, you'll be yelling at the screen, "Oh, come on! Nobody's THAT stupid!!" In a nutshell, and without any spoilers, everybody acts in a manner convenient to the plot, which makes no sense anyway. A very frustrating and unrealistic movie, which may account for it sitting on the shelf for as long as it did.

Not perfect, but enjoyable

[skullfire-48012 · 8/10 · 13 July 2021]

Elmore Leonard writes such great material it's very hard not to enjoy it. Direction could have been better, great performances from the cast.

Killer thriller, killer message

[Wuchakk · 7/10 · 11 May 2013]

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.

Totally Wasted Cast

[stephengraley · 2/10 · 8 April 2009]

Diane Lane, Mickey Rourke, Rosario Dawson & Thomas Jane.....Not a bad cast in my opinion however they were totally wasted in this movie.

There was no real direction, there were no unusual turns, in fact the whole movie was very predictable from start to finish. Mickey Rourke had a really annoying sidekick who did nothing but irritate you from the start. Rosario Dawson was totally wasted and there was hardly any point in even having her character in the film.

I really do believe this is one of those straight to DVD movies that everyone will forget about very quickly which is a shame as the movie could have been so much better.

Surprisingly Good

[claudio_carvalho · 6/10 · 10 April 2018]

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")

Fair Effort

[damianphelps · 6/10 · 11 January 2021]

This B-ish movie packs a pretty strong cast that provides the platform for an enjoyable movie.

The plot is fairly rudimentary but the character development is above the norm for this type of movie as they consider who they are and who they want to be.

Its tough watching Rourke if you watched him when he was younger, he face (from apparent damage) has a reduced ability to express emotion which makes him come across as wooden. As an actor he is/was pretty amazing so to see this reduction in his abilities is a shame. Check out Angel Heart to see what he can do with DeNiro!

Killshot is much better than the coverart would suggest :)

You should read this one

[liamtoh55 · 7/10 · 1 July 2009]

I've been reading some of the other comments, most of them are pretty fair, but a few of them are written by people who didn't see the point of the film - nor do they appreciate good acting.

I have recently been catching up with Rourkes early work, and I am fascinated by his acting abilities. He plays a very interesting, Native American gang hit-man (Black Bird), and he somehow portrays the characters' experience and inner moral battles without saying hardly anything. In just one look across the table to Diane Lane, he displays his reflections on his past and his desire to change as an ageing assassin. You really get the feeling that Bird has created a cage for himself in which he must uncompromisingly kill anyone who has seen his face, regardless of whether they are good people. I could somehow empathise with Black Birds situation, that he had a long career of emotionless killing that was blown away by the death of his younger brother, which led Bird to take a very different path - with an unlikely accomplice - dragging good people into his dark world.

I was also very impressed with Joseph Gordon-Levitts' performance as Richie Nix, but not at all surprised considering his performance in Mysterious Skin (2005). Thomas Jane and Diane Lane (hey that rhymes) did a good job as the troubled couple caught in the middle of it all, but there were no "wow" moments from them either.

Overall, this is a pretty good action flick. Sure it's not a crazy, over-indulgent, sensationalist Hollywood blockbuster, but it is a good story about how the average person reacts to extraordinary situations - and how extraordinary people on the fringes of society react to the average person.

Solid Entertainment

[punchbowl16 · 7/10 · 22 November 2013]

Okay, maybe I'm just such a movie lover that I'm easy to please, but - I LIKED IT! Filmed predominantly in a wintry Canada, it's the story of an out-of-love couple who eyeball a professional hit man, and are then pursued by him and his maniacal cohort. Yes, it's been done before, and the ending was very predictable, but Director John Madden keeps the pace red-hot, and I enjoyed the characters so much that it finished the way I wanted it to. Here's how it goes down with me: movies are supposed to be entertaining, and this one was. The people should be real, and they were. Mickey Rourke's hit man was cold as ice; Joseph Gordon-Levitt was the most appallingly awful villain I've seen in a long time; and Diane Lane in fetching underwear gave my octogenarian heart the most exercise it's had in a long time. And the fact that I bought the DVD for $2 at my favourite second-hand store in no way influenced my rating!

My review (Spoiler)

[mattmcclary · 4/10 · 25 June 2009]

There are many distinct problems with the movie "KillShot". For one, there are way too many coincidences. The husband is a hunter and just happens to be hunting on the day that the main killer shows up, with someone the killer knows. Okay I will take that one. The kid calls the real estate agency that the wife works for and asks for money to be ready when he comes to get it. Okay, I will take that one as well. Before he goes to get the cash he decided to rob our killer, who doesn't kill him but decided to go with him on the job. It's starting to get real weak. Then they show up, on the same day that the husband has an interview with his wives boss. No one is there but the wife and the husband who has decided to make his way into the empty office. They make their way into the office and the professional killer just assumes that they are talking to the right guy. That is just in the first 15 minuets.

There are a lot more holes in this movie then I care to talk about. Why the killer didn't just kill everyone at the real estate agency I don't know. Why he didn't shoot the woman on her porch, I don't know. Why he kept letting that dumb kid make all those stupid moves and mess a whole lot of crap up, I don't know. Why the girlfriend was even in the movie, I don't know. Why he decided not to pocket the gun and just leave it out on the counter, I don't know. Why they even went into the witness protection program, I don't know. What I do know is that the Casting Director did a great job, the Director of Photography did very good work, the Location Scout picked great locations, and the Production Designer was worth every penny. So my advice for anyone that is going to pick a script that is going to be so well worked by the crew, make sure that every attempt to kill someone by the hit man is not foiled by a peak through an open window.

'Bye Bye Blackbird!'

[Weirdling_Wolf · 7/10 · 22 February 2022]

I recently enjoyed rewatching watching John Madden's doomy, hard-boiled hitman thriller 'Killshot' - Legendary scrivener Elmore Leonard's bullet-slick, corkscrew twisted tale of ice-cruel underworld justice is brought to vivid life by a tremendous cast of talented actors. Once again, hunky mancake Thomas Jane kills it as heroically stoical steelworker 'Wayne', distractingly delicious Diane Lane and her perky pistols righteously rocked my movie-muddled membrane as Wayne's estranged, shotgun-savvy wife 'Carmen', maestro Mickey Rourke took flight as weary, brawny-broody contract killer 'Bird', and a hysterically hyperactive Joseph Gordon-Levitt makes sushi outta the scenery as triumphantly tweaked, trigger-happy skell 'Richie'! While the text isn't as sharp as it should be, and poor old Rosaria Dawson seems a mite lost, there's a tantalizingly grim, Noirish bleakness to the sinister Smith & Wesson shenanigans that maintained my B-Movie interest, and the claustrophobically tense, spontaneously violent, squib-splattered finale kinda reminded me a smidgen of Eric Red's 80s classic 'Cohen & Tate', which is no bad thing, plus loopy Levitt pulls antlers off the wall wiv his bare hands, cor!, that lad just 'aint right!!???? (well, he sorta uses his feet as well, but, hey!!!!! It's still a neat-o bad guy icebreaker!)

What The Hell Is Going On?

[chicagopoetry · 2/10 · 24 January 2010]

I am so disappointed in this movie I can't express it. I was so excited when I started watching this film to see Mickey Rourke all leather faced and that kid from Third Rock From The Sun acting like I psycho. I thought, wow, this is going to be a winner, freakin' Natural Born Killers style. And it got better. The production value was great, the directing was great, the acting was great, the cinematography was great, and the plot was, well, the plot, well, what WHAT PLOT? About half way through this film I was pulling my hair out yelling "What the hell is going on?" and I mean that quite literally? Nothing makes any sense whatsoever. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Aaaaaaahhhhhhggg!!!!

Excellent Characters, Excellent Cast, Excellent Movie!!

[Indifferent_Observer · 9/10 · 23 January 2011]

I absolutely love this move. Watch it every time I get the chance. Mickey Rourke plays his role to a tee and we see from this movie that he is back in full effect! Joseph Gordon Lovett is equally excellent as the charismatic psychopath whom Bird takes under his wing because he reminds him of his dead brother. This movie can be really touching at times as we watch Bird go through his mixed feelings about what he should do as an aging hit-man who wants to be done with his murderous ways while still pulling off one of the meanest SOB's you would even NOT want to meet. Mickey Rourke was the best actor by far as his role was so complex at times. Dianne Lane also does a wonderful job and there are other notable appearances.Don't expect something new as its the familiar premise of a hit-man on his one last job, but this one is very stylish, has great performances and is all and all a great flick.

9 out of 10 stars!

Good Movie

[mikeholliday51 · 7/10 · 18 May 2013]

My opinion? Good movie; it struggles a bit at first but plays out well. Diane, Mickey, Gordon all excellent. Very underrated movie. A shame it went straight to DVD, not enough recognition. I'm a fan of Diane (she is extremely sexy) and Gordon is perfect as the psycho. I want a copy of this movie to my collection and I have quite a collection. Gordon is also excellent in "The Lookout", another looked over movie. Anyway, watch, enjoy, and admire the very attractive Diane Lane. And why do I need to submit 10 lines? I fail to understand IMDb's rule on this but hey, I guess I will submit to their request. Speaking of Diane, another good movie is "Streets of Fire" with Michael Pare.

Awful...

[arclt · 3/10 · 14 August 2018]

I would have given this movie a 1 except for Diane Lane. She tried...the movie is just dumb. The character of Nix is obnoxious...Rourke should have shot him the day he met him.

Far more worthy of your time than countless other wide releases of the last year.

[danteism · 7/10 · 25 March 2009]

I think it's a terrific shame that this movie never saw a wider release when it was at least as good, and in some cases MUCH better than, all of the following action films released in the last 12 months:

Shoot 'Em Up

Body of Lies

Rambo

Pride and Glory

Righteous Kill

Jump

Taken

It's by no means a "must-see" film, but even so, it is still a solid, entertaining, and well paced action/thriller/drama.

Well directed, well acted, and well scripted, it definitely deserved more than the practically non-existent distribution it received.

While it is certainly not half the role that Rourke had to work with in The Wrestler, his part was still well played and had gravitas despite his mediocre Native American accent.

Diane Lane was good as always.

Thomas Jane was a pleasant surprise. I expect to see more of him in years to come.

Meanwhile Joseph Gordon-Levitt was absolutely transcendent in his portrayal of an insecure white trash sociopath gone wildly off the rails. With the right casting I have little doubt he has many awards waiting for him down the road.

Despite a few minor flaws, this is absolutely worth a watch if you enjoy gritty action movies that don't insult your intelligence, and rely more on character development than CGI.

Decent thriller with great cast

[skullballmovies · 6/10 · 22 July 2010]

Killshot started off to me like it was going to be a gritty action/thriller movie. Then it got into drama. Then into thriller. Then into action. It was all over the place, but only losing interest in a couple of parts. One of my favorite parts, sadly, were the opening credits. The music was great, they introduced each character nicely, and the animations were cool. The cast was great, and I was surprised to see Tom Jane in such a subtle role. Mickey Rourke was the center of attention for me, and him not being one of my favorite actors means that he did a great job in his role. It had a satisfactory ending and overall, it made me feel satisfied that I watched it. It's worth a rent or a see at a friend's house.