Ashby (2015)

High-school student Ed Wallis enters into a friendship with his neighbor, Ashby, a retired CIA assassin who only has a few months left to live.

Director:

Tony McNamara

Writer:

Tony McNamara

Stars:

Mickey Rourke, Nat Wolff, Emma Roberts

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mickey Rourke	...	Ashby Holt
Nat Wolff	...	Ed Wallis
Emma Roberts	...	Eloise
Sarah Silverman	...	June Wallis
Kevin Dunn	...	Coach Bruton
Zachary Knighton	...	Father Ted
Michael Lerner	...	Entwistle
John Enos III	...	Coach Wally
Steve Coulter	...	Peter Black
Tom Nowicki	...	Kenrick
Adam Aalderks	...	Valchek
Seth Dousman	...	Smits
Jason Davis	...	Mr. Mark
Max Lesser	...	Doctor
Jodonna Gaines	...	Nurse

Storyline

ASHBY is a coming of age/approaching death comedy drama. A seventeen-year-old kid (Ed) trying to understand who he wants to be in the world, befriends a terminally ill ex-CIA contract killer (Ashby) who is trying to make peace with his life and God before he goes. 'Making peace' might just entail killing three old bosses who have tricked him into breaching his strange moral code.

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Plot Keywords:

character name as title | former assassin | teenage angst | chauffeur | oldsmobile cutlass | 

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Taglines:

Life is about knowing how to take a hit

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, some sexual material and violence

Did You Know?

Trivia

Kevin Dunn and Michael Lerner previously worked together on Roland Emmerich's Godzilla (2014)

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Goofs

The MRI machine in Eloise's home would have pulled the bicycle and other nearby ferromagnetic metal items towards it's extremely powerful magnet in a dangerous fashion at the moment it was turned on. Even non-ferromagnetic metals can interact with an MRI ( such as her earrings) in such a way that the MRI image produced would likely be distorted.

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Quotes

Ashby Holt: Be careful of what and who you believe in. Find someone that you love fiercely and who loves you back the same way, and you treat them well, and you know it's of value. Also, you shouldn't be scared of the world. I kinda suspect the world should be a scared of you.

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Soundtracks

Black Rooster
Performed by Big Black Johnson and the Oilers
Written by Big Black Johnson
Courtesy of Crucial Music Corporation

User Reviews

best I've seen from Rourke in years

Ashby is a departure for Mickey Rourke, as he's been kind of slumming it in B movie junk for a few years. That changes here. Rourke's cowboy machismo and brooding vibe of danger is genius and takes on a whole new light when contrasted with the bright, idiosyncratic realm of the low key indie dramedy. It's a perfect concoction of ingredients, a melding of today's millennial teen angst with the battle scarred remnants of 1990's gritty pulp fare. Here Mickey plays Ashby Holt, an ex CIA assassin quietly residing in present day suburbia. He becomes aimlessly lost when he finds out he has terminal cancer, and is given three months to live. Next door, a high school kid (Nat Wolff) who's new in town tries to fit in with his peers, and make new friends while his incredibly insecure mother (Sarah Silverman♡) also tries to.. make new friends, I guess you could say. When he gets a class project to interview an 'old person', he spots Ashby, and reaches out. Ashby needs a driver, and the two strike an amiable enough relationship that's both tragically funny and a sly statement on the addled nature of youths today. Gradually Ashby becomes sort of a father figure to him, and the bond deepens. Nat also strikes up a romance with a peculiar girl played by Emma Roberts. She's one who usually plays the bitchy bimbo, but here wonderfully surprised me by giving the quirky outsider girl just the right amount of depth and empathy. You might just not recognize her, taking on the kind of oddball role her father Eric is famous for. There's scene stealing work from Kevin Dunn as well, playing a cantankerous football coach. The film briefly falls victim to 'quirky for the sake of quirky' indie tropes, and initially I was detached and wished it would bring it in more and smarten up. No one likes too much of that hipster bullshit lol. But it does, pulling back the curtains of glib comic inaccessibility to slow itself down and distill emotional, realistic work from its actors, the wonderful script a playground for them to explore. Rourke brings the best work he's done since The Wrestler, and is nothing short of sensational. When he's given the right material, he soars higher than most actors ever dream of reaching, and he finds the regret, sympathy, coldness and wounded spirit mentality of Ashby. He NEEDS more roles like this. Nat Wolff is a bit of a 'natterer' at first and got on my nerves a touch, but he grows on you, his naive sweetness a fascinating opposite to Rourke's weary burnout sadness. Fans of Rourke (he's my second favourite actor of all time) will find a gold mine in this one, and casual viewers should enjoy it's unassuming first half, and be moved by the down to earth second act that gives the characters the full circle arc they deserve. Well done.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 September 2015 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ashby

Filming Locations:

Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,631, 27 September 2015

Gross USA:

$4,631

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$122,919

Company Credits

Production Co:

Head Gear Films, Kreo Films FZ, Langley Park Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Datasat

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1