1 star (out of 10)

Fassbinder and Swinton, Competing for the Oscar in the Most Boring Dialog category

Just briefly, this movie is awful. Painfully slow. How do you make an assassin for hire movie that is this snoozable?

The movie “stars” Michael Fassbinder as a that tired hollywood trope, a paid killer. We see him getting ready for a job. He naturally bungles the shot, and becomes the target himself. Gee, never seen this plot before.

In other such movies, there is lots of action. Car chases. Gun battles. Garrotting of the bad guys. Explosions. Think every Jason Bourne movie.

In this movie we are treated to a long, tedious dialog between Fassbinder and the curiously coiffed Tilda Swinton, who he is about to kill. She knows this. But instead of just shooting her in her q-tip head, (I call this hairstyle the Half Mullet), he says nothing while she blathers on interminably. With nothing interesting to say. A great actress, but not particularly attractive. Making the scene excruciating to watch.

I will confess I simply gave up watching after 75 minutes, as I could not stay awake. So maybe it gets great in the last 20 minutes. But I wouldn’t count on it. And I would not waste your time finding out.

As an alternative, watch The Professional, The Mechanic, or The Day of the Jackal. All far superior and interesting movies about professional assassins.