Review of The Gunman (2015) by Jeff B — 12 Nov 2015

Gunning for a raspberry at an automatic clip, musclebound Sean Penn's attempt at becoming a Liam Neeson-style action hero unfortunately causes the audience to recoil with every pump of the trigger. Oh, the titular character certainly looks the part, cut like an UFC fighter and angrier than Christian Bale on the set of Terminator Salvation, but the deathly serious tone laughably handicaps what amounts to an expensive bullets and brawn B-Movie. Treating the same B-Grade material with an almost fanatical religious sternness, the story laughably misfires as well. Injected with a personal political bent by the producer, the already uninspired story becomes even duller when the lead a paycheck-cashing assassin retires to become a virtuous do-gooder, building wells and third world hearts before his past comes back to haunt himone of many such heavy-handed instances.

In this R-rated actioner, a former Special Forces soldier and military contractor (Penn) suffering from PTSD tries to reconnect with his long time love, but first must go on the run from London to Barcelona and across Europe in order to clear his name.

The producer, of course, also proves to be the star: Sean Penn, an actor known for sticking liberal foot in mouth on many an occasion. While the well-meaning actions of his character are far from an egregious affront away from the confines of the script, here they become self-important grandstanding. Worse, Penn (a very deserved Best Actor Oscar winner for Mystic River and Milk) inhabits the part with the same laser-intensity as with Dead Man Walking. This is the same actor who reportedly took swipes at Nicolas Cages thespian credentials when the latter starred in Con Air. At least Cage knows how to literally roll with the punches with tongue firmly in cheek. Perfect physical specimen Penn kicks and hits like the best of them but, in approaching The Gunman like it was an Ingmar Bergman masterpiece, his character quickly becomes more expendable than an Expendable.

Bottom line: I Am Sham.