Killshot (2008)

Sigh. In Killshot, Mickey Rourke plays mob hitman Armand aka "Blackbird", taking the name as a nod to his Native American heritage. After botching a job, he meets young Richie Nix (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a psychotic amateur bank robber who never shuts up. Armand agrees to help Richie with an extortion scheme if he can stay with him for a few days (he lives with his Elvis-obsessed girlfriend Donna [Rosario Dawson]). They break into the real estate agency where Carmen Colson (Diane Lane) works, mistaking her currently-separated husband Wayne (Thomas Jane), who's applying for a job, for her boss. He knows nothing of the threats Richie had been making and his confusion leads to unplanned violence. The two criminals escape, but Armand is paranoid about being found by the police or mob after Carmen saw his face. Now the estranged couple is being hunted down and are placed into witness protection program, forcing them to re-evaluate their marriage and fears while hoping for safety. But Richie and Armand won't give up.

This had all the makings of a cool movie: the cast is swell, the script is based on a novel by Elmore Leonard, it's directed by John Madden (who was like... nominated for an Oscar), and it's got assassins! What could go wrong? Oh wait... a lot of stuff. The story is surprisingly kind of lame. Not much actually happens and not much makes sense. I haven't read the original book, so I don't know if it's an adaptation problem or not. Plus that whole subplot about Carmen and Wayne's relationship was boring and dumb. And it seemed pointless to include all these references to Armand's Native American background- it didn't affect the story or the character. I think it was supposed to hint that he thought he was superior because of his heritage? But I'm not sure.

Almost every character was annoying in some way, or under-developed. Poor Rosario Dawson spent her few scenes being yelled at by Joseph Gordon-Levitt or talking about Elvis. I'm not sure why she was even in this movie- her character served little purpose. Richie was just a dick (and usually I'll love Joseph Gordon-Levitt in anything). Armand felt like he was so wise, subscribing to his own personal brand of morality, but that didn't make him engaging. Wayne was pitiful but not sympathetic. As a regular lady simultaneously thrust into life-threatening situations and her husband's desperate advances, Carmen was probably the most interesting character. But not interesting enough to really save this movie.

Basically, Killshot is not very good. The story is rather meandering and poorly structured. There are some good comedic bits, with Gordon-Levitt and Rourke playing well off of each other, and the ending has some good pacing, but otherwise it's definitely passable. Oh well, it would have been much worse with a different cast.

2.5/5