The Hit

I can't believe I'm discovering this little gem only now, about 20 years late! Shame on me. How comes...?

Now this is the kind of stuff I like. Intelligent, brilliantly written and directed, with mindblowing actors' performances by Tim Roth, John Hurt and Terence Stamp (gee I never realized before that Stamp was SUCH a talented actor!! Shame on me again!), a real personality, an outstanding camera work, and multiple references to the cinema history... all this with just the right amount of dignity, not too much, just the right amount. And an original and tasteful use of hispanic music, that is 100% adequate.

"The hit" is suspenseful, unpredictable, funny, challenging.

Makes me wonder how many times Tarentino viewed it... he obviously viewed it several times, for sure.

Great flick. I can't believe that there are only 395 votes for this movie on Imdb, meaning that only a very selected group of people actually had the luck to come across this little diamond. Such a shame. I bet many Coen fans would really love "The hit" if they only had the opportunity to view it...

Two hit men go to Spain and pick up a fellow crook who went into hiding years before. They are suppose to drive him back to Paris, however as they hit the road, it quickly becomes clear that things are not what they seem and that the hit men are in for more than they ever bargained for.

Tightly plotted and neat little thriller that works thanks to its three stars. Terrence Stamp kicked his career into high gear once more with his turn as the man hauled off for execution. So calm in the face of death its almost unnerving and its not hard to see how he can begin to play his captors like a violin. John Hurt and Tim Roth are his equal as the two hit men who never saw what they were walking into. This is ensemble acting at its finest.

This is a great little film. Its worth seeking out.

Forget the flashy but empty "cor blimey guv" Brit crime movies of the last few years like 'Snatch' and 'Sexy Beast'. Apart from 'Croupier' and 'Gangster No. 1', most of them aren't worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as the brilliant but largely forgotten 'The Long Good Friday', 'Mona Lisa', and the most underrated of all, 'The Hit'. Terence Stamp, playing a character not too dissimilar from the one he later portrays in 'The Limey', is a former gangster who grassed up his criminal mates years earlier. Now living in semi-retirement in Spain he is unexpectedly kidnapped by two hoods (John Hurt and, in one of his earliest screen roles, Tim Roth) who plan on taking him to Paris and killing him as punishment for betraying the criminal code. Of course, things don't go quite as planned and along the way the sexy Laura del Sol gets forced against her will to accompany them. This is a very fresh and interesting film that is more character than action based so might not appeal to the Guy Ritchie crowd. It's their loss. Stamp is just brilliant and his interaction with Hurt and Roth makes this a must see movie. The supporting cast also includes the legendary Fernando Rey ('The French Connection') as the cop on their trail, and Aussie veteran Bill Hunter as a crim in the wrong place at the wrong time. 'The Hit' is one of the most overlooked British movies of the last twenty years, and highly recommend viewing for all discerning movie buffs.

A petty gangster rats out his accomplices and goes into protective custody with his new-found penchant for books and thought, until one day retribution arrives in the form of two assassins. The gangster, now a philosopher who claims he is ready for death as just another step in the progression of life, is taken for a long ride across Spain so that the crime boss he ratted out can witness vengeance inflicted.

Talk about your minor masterpieces! This has long been one of my favorites ever since I stumbled across it on one of the premium cable movie channels many years ago.

It's hard to put my finger on just what it is, exactly, that makes this movie great. One can hardly point to substantial character development, because the characters (with one exception) never really become true flesh and blood to us. The plot meanders, truth be told. The dialog is clever but rarely brilliant. So what is it? Certainly the locations and the music, the general ambiance, add a lot to the movie. The car, the clouds of dust, the brilliant Spanish sun, the arc of azure sky, the arid hills, the sultry guitar: these things alone can turn a marginal movie into a good one. Exterior shots predominate, and with good reason. The director knew how to combine simple, pure elements--strong, bold colors, bright sunlight, stark images, and exactly the right sounds--in ways that seem to speak of things larger than themselves.

But I don't mean to make the rest of the movie sound marginal. The characters aren't terribly well fleshed-out, but they are interesting nevertheless. Hurt's character, the silent, wary predator, comes across as a bit stilted, but he makes it work with his craggy face, his angular body, his croaking voice, and especially his eternally weary eyes. (Few characters could have taken on this role without looking ridiculous.) Stamp is also stilted yet convincing as the amateur philosopher and erstwhile rogue at peace with himself and his fate. Roth, even more constricted in his role, also manages to put across a convincing if thoroughly unsavory persona. These actors don't have much to work with, and yet none of them ever slips into crudely cartoonish performances. They remain genuine, to the degree their characters allow.

The real surprise is the girl, Laura del Sol. Her obvious physical charms, barely stuffed into a very small dress, lead the viewer (the pop-eyed male viewer, anyway) into writing her off as mere eye candy, until the confrontation between her and Hurt, and the cruel, angry glow in her eyes, brings it home that here perhaps is the highest talent in this cast. It is she alone who stands out, at the end of the movie, as someone we can recognize and identify with; someone who isn't a mere cypher. What a pity that she has done so little else in English-speaking movies.

Whether you find the ending of this movie satisfying probably says something about your own personality, and how you view concepts like loyalty, crime, vengeance, and justice. I won't go into my own reactions. I'll only say that, when the movie is over, you'll find that, not only have you watched an absorbing movie, but you probably have things to think about.

Stephen Frears' highly original talent was evident in his first feature 'Gumshoe' from 1971. After thirteen years in the confining world of Television he has again been granted the opportunity of stretching his legs on the wider screen. Although not a palpable 'hit' when first released its merits have since come to be appreciated in retrospect as Frears' subsequent reputation as an accomplished filmmaker has been firmly established.

The plot here is pretty basic but Frears' skilful direction of his players, Peter Prince's sparse but loaded dialogue and Mick Audsley's taut editing have given us a tense, well constructed piece in which the dynamics between the four main characters are constantly shifting and our initial impressions of them are totally subverted as the film progresses. The landscape plays an active role and this, together with Paco de Lucia's score, gives this film the feel of a latter day Western.

Superlative John Hurt hasn't been required to learn many lines but his silences speak volumes and Tim Roth makes an assured screen debut whilst Terence Stamp has one of his best roles and one which enables him to exhibit a rarely seen comic edge. Sultry Laura Del Sol had made quite an impression in Saura's flamenco version of 'Carmen' the previous year and her transition here from eye candy to spitfire is extremely effective.

To say that Mr. Frears has gone from strength to strength would be an understatement and he now indisputably belongs to the select group that comprises truly world class British directors, the rest of whom are deceased.