Review of Wild Target (1993) by Alenor L — 13 May 2012

Think 'A Fish Called Wanda' and 'Clockwise' and you have an idea of how this quirky little British film plays out. Bill Nighy is against cast as a ageing hitman who looks after his also ageing mother whilst doing his daily job of taking people out.

It sounds hilarious on paper and is a fun film, its just not quite as sharp as you might hope for. Nighy of course is the best thing in the film as the stiff upper lipped, tight assed gentleman hitman, a kind of 'Basil Fawlty' hitman who frowns upon anything modern or unusual in his world.

The rest of the cast are a jumbled mix of British character actors who add spice to the plot but not quite as much as Nighy. Freeman as the other hired assassin on the job is surprisingly eerie with his bleached teeth and slick hair, his partner in crime is Geoff Bell who always plays the scary hardman but parodies this beautifully here. Both are a great team up for this film and compliment Nighy so well, the other cast members do the job but nothing to rave about, Everett doesn't quite fit his role as head gangster if you ask me whilst Grint can't shake his 'Potter' background I'm afraid.

There isn't anything particularly original here, the hitman thing has been done to death but mixing it with an anal stuffy ageing British aristocratic business man type is a neat little idea. There isn't a great deal more on offer other than that small concept, the rest of the humour is average and the film does lull towards the end, the final idea of the two leads getting married and having a kid is rather icky frankly haha age gap much?

A nice entertaining black comedy which would have been perfect for John Cleese many years ago but Nighy is still good fare and still flies the flag for Britain just fine.