Yesterday she was a witness. Today she's a target.
Beautiful Carmen Colson and her ironworker husband Wayne are placed in the Federal Witness Protection program after witnessing an extortion scheme go wrong. Thinking they are at last safe, they are targeted by an experienced intimidating hit man and a psychopathic young upstart killer. The ensuing struggle will test Carmen to the limit.
Genre(s): Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Runtime: 95 minutes
Rating: 6.3/10 (6,681 votes)
Release Date: 13 November 2008
Country: USA
Languages: English
Company: FilmColony
Sound: SDDS, DTS, Dolby Digital
MPAA: Rated R for violence, language and brief nudity.
Director(s): John Madden
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Producer(s):
Lawrence Bender - producer
Richard N. Gladstein - producer
Elmore Leonard - executive producer
John Madden - executive producer
Jim Powers - co-producer
Erica Steinberg - executive producer
David J. Webb - co-producer
Bob Weinstein - executive producer
Harvey Weinstein - executive producer
Writer(s):
Hossein Amini - (screenplay)
Elmore Leonard - (novel)
Cast:
Mickey Rourke - Armand 'The Blackbird' Degas
Brandon McGibbon - Blackbird's Kid Brother
Peter Kelly Gaudreault - Blackbird's Brother
Michelle Arvizu - Nurse
Richard Zeppieri - Son-in-Law / Mafia Boss
Alexis Butler - Girl in Hotel Room
Hal Holbrook - Papa
Diane Lane - Carmen Colson
Robert Gow - Prospective Buyer #1
Catherine Hayos - Prospective Buyer #2
Music: Klaus Badelt
Lawrence Bender - producer
Richard N. Gladstein - producer
Elmore Leonard - executive producer
John Madden - executive producer
Jim Powers - co-producer
Erica Steinberg - executive producer
David J. Webb - co-producer
Bob Weinstein - executive producer
Harvey Weinstein - executive producer
Writer(s):
Hossein Amini - (screenplay)
Elmore Leonard - (novel)
Cast:
Mickey Rourke - Armand 'The Blackbird' Degas
Brandon McGibbon - Blackbird's Kid Brother
Peter Kelly Gaudreault - Blackbird's Brother
Michelle Arvizu - Nurse
Richard Zeppieri - Son-in-Law / Mafia Boss
Alexis Butler - Girl in Hotel Room
Hal Holbrook - Papa
Diane Lane - Carmen Colson
Robert Gow - Prospective Buyer #1
Catherine Hayos - Prospective Buyer #2
Music: Klaus Badelt
Posted on: January 3, 2009
April 23rd, 2009
First of all it's been advertised exactly as what it is, an actionflick, so why some complained about the depth of the experience isbeyond me.
You got the carpenteresque score to highlight the suspense, Rourkedwelling in the hoodlum with a "upscale" pimp appearance he got usaccustomed with in both private and public appearances, posing not morethan usual, but more than the average model at a photo-shoot (still,not more than Brando), Gordon Lewitt ripping elks of the wall in araging attempt to reenact de Niro's performance from "Mean Streets".Thomas Jane, well being himself, less than, say, in "Thursday", wherehe was top dog, but still good, and Lane, a bit lost in the mix.
Beside the bit lumpy ending, story moves quite well. Fun, funny, greatvisuals. Great soundtrack, also.
Was probably meant as a vehicle for Trejo, but turns out good forRourke, also.
April 26th, 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, RosarioDawson, Diane Lane, Tom Jane… I thought that I couldn't go wrong evenwith 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, buthe is no Native Indian even nearly. The character of Rosario Dawson iswasted totally, you can cut it off and forget easily. Diane Lane didher part just fine. Tom Jane tried to perform like a super-man from ThePunisher, but he was clearly no supposed to.
The story line is predictable extremely. Even though the whole thingstarts up pretty promising, it degrades in quality quickly and leads toa dumb, really dumb end. I cannot believe that a professional hit-mancan do so many mistakes one after another. And I do know for sure whata close shot of Remington 870 means.
So, we have a mediocre thriller to watch once upon a time and neverreturn. Without Rourke and Lane it wouldn't even score 6/10 in myopinion.
April 30th, 2009
Lots of actors seemingly heading for the scrap heap have made memorablecomebacks. Burt Reynold in "Boogie Nights" , John Travolta in " PulpFiction" and Sylvester Stallone in " Copland" are the three obviousexamples. The most recent High profile comeback has been Mickey Rourkein the magnificent film " The Wrestler" but was it just a flash in thepan?
When real estate agent Carmen Colson catches a glimpse of a hit-mannamed the Blackbird as he carries out a job, a subsequent request forher to testify against the aging gun for hire soon lands both Carmenand her husband, Wayne , in the Witness Protection Program. Blackbirdisn'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 partnerattempt to catch the couple in their crosshairs, Carmen and Wayne aregoing to need much more than a few federal agents to make it out ofincreasingly deadly situation alive
Killshot is one of those low budget films that got a very limitedrelease at the start of the year. In fact according to imdbPro.com inthe first two weeks of release in the US it grossed just $17,000. Wheni read details like this it always rings alarm bells. I needn't haveworried because Killshot is a really entertaining , well acted thrillerof which i thoroughly enjoyed. I found Mickey Rourke's performance anintense one and he has proved to me that he is back with a bang forgood! There is also some great acting from Joseph Gordon-Levitt and thegorgeous Diane Lane.
If your into violent gang related movies you wont be disappointed withKillshot. It delivers on all fronts. The story is believable as are thecharacters and the final twenty minutes produces real "edge of theseat" excitement. My only criticism is that it does have the feel of aCable 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 asentertaining considering he has brought us "Prime Suspect" , "InspectorMorse" and "Shakespeare in Love" in the past.
Killshot is released on DVD in the U.S on May the 26th and has no dateyet for a cinema or DVD release here in the UK.
7 out of 10
May 19th, 2009
Truly appalling waste of space. Me and my friend tried to watch thisfilm to its conclusion but had to switch it off about 30 minutes fromthe end. And i can count the films I have switched off before the endon one hand.
The script and direction are leaden and deeply uninspiring. I wouldn'tbe surprised if they found the script in a pile of cast off scriptsfrom 1983. For example the irritating scroat threatening the realestate guy from his house phone. I mean seriously. The police would bebeating his door down in minutes. The scenes and events just wash byyou like turds in a river. It is difficult to understand the actualthrust of the film. The narrative flicks between characters in aseemingly random manner breaking up the pathetic attempts at buildingthe characters. Oh and what "characters" they are. The protagonistplayed by Rourke is dreadful. He could have just sent a cardboard cutout of himself and stayed in bed. After 60 or so minutes of the film Ihad built absolutely zero attachment to this character. He is neithersympathetic nor hateful. Just a disfigured dummy from a shop windowblundering through every single scene. His motivation is impossible todiscern from his generally mumbled and emotionless delivery. Is hehappy? Is he sad? Angry? No idea. Just those same dead eyes staring outat you from a disfigured chunk of flesh. And the native American themeis just awful and pointless.
The good guys are at best unlikeable. A dull white collar stereotypeand a simpering neurotic ex-wife stereotype. Cue archetypal wife withshotgun face off with bad guy, "you aren't going to shoot me" that isboth tiresomely unoriginal and annoying.
The richie nix character seems interesting at first but soon descendsinto an irritating one sided psycho character. Which seems at odds withthe seeming intention of making the bad guys in some way sympathetic orat least realistically motivated.
Roasario Dawsons character starts with some promise but soon descendsinto a sickening and childlike parody of the gangsters chick scenesfrom Jackie Brown. You really want me to believe her character was SOattracted to Rourke's? Or worse she is just a floozy who sleeps withanything that moves? Realistic female characters FTW!
In summary a complete mess of a film. Hopeless characterisations andperformances. A leaden and hackneyed script along with uninspireddirection. And ultimately extremely dull. Its not even comedy badeither. Laughing at Rourkes haggard face gets pretty old after sittingthrough the first 15 turgid minutes of the film.
May 28th, 2009
I'm a big fan of Diane Lane so I had to see this movie. I had theimpression that this movie wasn't any good because of the lack of goodreviews or publicity, but I must say it wasn't bad at all. It wasactually much better than I expected. Now, its obvious that the storyis rather bland, maybe too simple, but the actors did quite well withthe weak material. And the director did a fairly good job of deliveringthe action. Some time back I read somewhere that Diane Lane was tiredof the weak roles she gets offered and now I completely understand whatshe meant. Not much to work with in this movie, but it was still a goodfilm I would say. That's proof of talent….good actors can always makeweak material look great. And on another note, Mickey Rourke was greatin his role. He was completely believable. I liked the "crime" scenesin this film. Or I should say the "hits." This movie managed to keep myinterest the whole time. Not many negative things to say about thisfilm other than the usual plot. But by todays standards, this filmworks really well. 7 out of 10.
May 30th, 2009
Well, Killshot is not awful, but it comes close. Production values aredecent and the main actors do a pretty good job (except for RosarioDawson in a wasted role), but the story is just pathetic. I don't knowif the Elmore Leonard book had such dumb characters,since I haven'tread it, but I'm guessing that the book was supposed to be at leastslightly humorous. The movie has no detectable humor. After the firsttwenty minutes, you'll be yelling at the screen, "Oh, come on! Nobody'sTHAT stupid!!" In a nutshell, and without any spoilers, everybody actsin a manner convenient to the plot, which makes no sense anyway. A veryfrustrating and unrealistic movie, which may account for it sitting onthe shelf for as long as it did.
May 30th, 2009
KILLSHOT is far from being a great movie. I suppose it could be saidthat it isn't even a movie, but instead a DVD project as it has arather leaden history. But though there was no theatrical release togarner public interest and little promotional material about its shelfrelease, it may just find an audience among word of mouth promotion. Ithas enough elements to keep the interest of even late at night tiredviewers – and that says a lot these days. Elmore Leonard's novel hasbeen reconstructed by Hossein Amini and John Madden has done his bestto string together the various beads of the plots that comprise thisstory, and the result is a film peppered by some worthwhile actors whodo their best to make the implausible story lines work.
Armand 'Blackbird' Degas (Mickey Rourke) is a long time hit-man, anAmerican Indian with a past pasted together by tragedies who accepts anassignment to make a new kill. His plan is disrupted by his accidentaland maladaptive association with a bona fide psychopath Richie Nix(Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and girlfriend Donna (Rosario Dawson). Nixdecides to partner with Blackbird and in the process they encounter a'couple on the rocks' – Carmen and Wayne Colson (Thomas Jane and DianeLane) – who happen to witness an incident that puts them in danger ofNix and Blackbird's recipe for not leaving witnesses. The couple is puton Witness Protection Program but that doesn't dent the cleverBlackbird from accomplishing his goals. The rest of the story is a catand mouse chase that has some moments of real terror. And as in most ofLeonard'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 andstretch credibility. The work by the lead actors is quite good as isthat of the momentary cameos by such luminaries as Hal Holbrook andLois Smith. A great film this is not, but a film that maintainsattention/tension it is and worth an evening's entertainment. GradyHarp
June 1st, 2009
Ugh. Even the ever-popular Diane Lane could not save this movie, andthe most exciting thing about the movie was seeing if Rourke's facewould move. One has heard so much "gossip" about his botched face lift,etc., so like an accident on the side of the road, we just had to slowdown and see the wreck. The plot was thin. Here we have a veryprofessional mob hit man who somehow latches on to a wild anduncontrollable punk/crook, and throughout this movie we're wonderingwhy this guy stays with this idiot, let alone gets together with theguy in the first place. Then the crime that was not even committed hasthe pro to go after the witnesses. He would have popped them right thenand there. But then, we would not have had a movie then, would we? Andwhy did the realtor even agree to the extortion? There were more holesin this flick than in my colander. The acting was horrid, the entiremovie predictable down to the minute, and even the ending. And so muchcould have been done to make this a much better movie. But if you haveabout 90 minutes to kill and not have to use any brain cells in theprocess, then this movie is just what the doctor ordered.