Portrait of a Hitman

The first time I watched this I could have sworn it caused me pain, but the second time I watched it (years later) I didn't find it to be too bad...not great mind you...but not awful.

Jack Palance (It can Be Done Amigo) is JimBuck, painter and hit-man and supreme mumbler who can't do a hit because it's on the head of his mate Bo Svenson (Snowbeast), a brilliant neurosurgeon who's about to operate on a guy who's going to rat on the mob. JimBuck can't go through with it, which enrages Rod Steiger (Duck you sucka), who is also Palance's friend. Can Jack put everything right and get out of the mob? Or will Richard Roundtree get 'his arse' as he says in his African accent.

There's much navel gazing in this film and not much action. You'd be surprised to know that Rod Steiger does some shouting. I did kind of dig it up to a point but was supremely confused by the ending (what happened to Richard Roundtree?). Palance does get into a few gunfights but you'll have to be pretty tolerant of low budget films to enjoy this. Like me- I'll watch any crap these days. Palance does kill an awful lot of black guys, which is a bit alarming.

To sum up - I had this film in my collection for years before I watched it. That should give you an indication of what to expect.