A British heist movie with no shortage of slapstick humour. In this good-natured romp three strangers wind up on a whirlwind adventure to stay alive. Starring Emily Blunt, Bill Nighy and Rupert Grint as an adept con artist, confused hitman and hapless bystander.
Featuring Emily Blunt as the lead this film sometimes feels ahead of its time. Viewed through the eyes of a more progressive society you can forget it is eleven years old, at times. There is a rubber banding effect, as the writing occasionally struggles to keep up with the possibility that it has written a strong, intelligent, female character played by an all-star actor. As you watch the male characters step in to resolve Rose’s slip-ups you assume this can only be some kind of clever ploy, for such an adept con artist must be bending them to her will… a device, which if you choose to see it this way, makes for a much more enjoyable film than perhaps the writer should get credit for.
The best hitman in the land is played by Bill Nighy who is well known for playing the bad guy in action studded movies…. I did enjoy his quirky Victor Maynard. There is certainly more character facets than usual to a buttoned-down assassin, some might say an unnecessary amount, but it does help lever the film into quirky cult film territory, rather than your usual ‘by the numbers’ action comedy. Rupert Grint has Weasley’d his way out of the Harry Potter franchise to play the down on his luck Tony. Finding himself in unlooked-for peril, Tony has the hall marks of an accidental menace to society, which Victor Maynard finds endearing. Grint is perfectly placed to act the awkward tag along, completing a merry trio which you are happy to root for. Pitted against the rag tag band of characters is Martin Freeman as literally Hitman No.2. Following up the job gone bad he is determined to prove he is worthy of the top spot with a very pantomime performance. Freeman is a master of exasperation, so perhaps what the director had in mind when he realised the script offered him little chance to present a real threat.
The cinematography and soundtrack are nothing to write home about in particular. The film is entirely pulled together by the cast who obviously work well together. The characters are laughably oddball and not always in the intended ways but still entertaining. I would recommend this if you are running dry on your Netflix comedy films and want something mindless you can laugh at as much as with.
Author: Joe, Bath store
