Coming off the success of “The Wrestler,” you would expect Mickey Rourke’s next motion picture to be rushed out to capitalize on his popularity. Why then did the thriller “Killshot,” starring Rourke, languish in release date limbo for so long? With the theatrical release moved back several times by The Weinstein Company, the film eventually made a very limited appearance in movie theaters back in January 2009. For all intents and purposes, the first opportunity the majority of Americans will have to see Rourke’s turn as a hitman-for-hire will be through the medium of DVD on May 26th. With the talent of veteran director John Madden (“Shakespeare in Love”) and a respectable supporting cast including Diane Lane (“Nights in Rodanthe”) and Thomas Jane (“The Mist”); how could this story, based on an Elmore Leonard novel, not be worthy of a wide release? Unfortunately, the film fails to garner more than passive viewer interest, despite the best of intentions from new hot commodity Rourke.
The story focuses unexpectedly on the bad guy Armand “Blackbird” Degas, played by Rourke. He is hired to kill a major crime lord but doesn’t follow the instructions given by his client exactly, leaving him with his own mark on his head. Forced into hiding, Blackbird runs into a young, loudmouth hoodlum named Richie (Joseph Gordon-Levitt; “Stop-Loss”) who is planning a job of his own. Blackbird takes an interest in teaching the kid, becoming involved in Richie’s poorly developed scheme to blackmail a bank manager. A violent altercation occurs at the bank which a married couple, Carmen (Lane) and Wayne (Jane) Colson, become material witnesses to. Blackbird leaves no loose ends, stalking the couple intending to silence them permanently. Carmen and Wayne go into hiding but Blackbird and Richie will not be appeased until they are dead.
The premise of the film is standard thriller material but the emphasis on the villain is unusual. Watching the story, I felt too much time was spent watching Blackbird do almost nothing. He lays on his bed for awhile, he puts up with his partner’s jawing for a good portion of the film, and he stares determinedly ahead the rest of the time. As a half Native American, Blackbird is an outcast both in the world and within his tribe; perhaps because he is a cold-hearted but effective killer. The surety of his conviction to kill any witnesses to his crimes will effectively send shivers down a viewer’s spine.
While Blackbird is the creepy character of the piece, Richie is the most reviled. He is an uncouth braggart, unable to control either his mouth or his actions. Blackbird’s patience for his protégé is much greater than the viewer’s. There are only rare instances when a character can be overdeveloped in a movie but Richie is most definitely one of those instances. By the end, Blackbird is actually humanized when compared to the revolting disposition of Richie.
The protagonists, Carmen and Jane, are wasted in the course of the film. Almost entirely ignored from the beginning, the viewer will have little understanding of their personalities or relationship until midway through the film. As the victims on-the-run, it should have been the director’s main goal to get the viewer to sympathize with them and their plight. Instead, it felt as though Blackbird’s role in the film is artificially inflated while the couple’s story is cut. It’s hard to form an attachment to people you barely know but Madden unreasonably expects it of the viewers of “Killshot.”
The setting of the story moves from one town to the next, but the scenery all runs together. The cinematography feels like it’s been done on the cheap, perhaps even with stock location shots inserted. The production value is universally sub-par except for the occasional fight scene. There is also one scene at the end, with Blackbird, Richie, and Carmen, that actually creates real concern for her safety. If the rest of “Killshot” had only emulated this one scene, the movie could have been respectable. Instead, it is a throw-away film with no sense of itself and what it’s trying to accomplish.
Rated R for violence, language and brief nudity.
