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It seems like someone took the title of “Killshot”
far too literally. How could such a high profile movie with
two talented stars (Diane Lane, Thomas Jane, Mickey Rourke,
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rosario Dawson) and an Oscar winning
director (John Madden “Shakespeare in Love”) be shelved
for nearly four years? The film ended up the imperfect example
of filmmaking by committee; recut numerous times, scheduled
for release then pulled, the film makes its DVD and Blu-ray
debut without so much as the dignity of a theatrical release.
***
Based on a novel by Elmore Leonard (Get Shorty among
others), “Killshot” demonstrates what can happen when a
good film jumps its own creative rails—it ends up a train
wreck of a movie but a fascinating one nonetheless. ***
Mafia killer Blackbird (Mickey Rourke) has tired of
the killing game; he pines for retirement the way some men
for lost loves. Richie Nix an idiotic criminal pulls Blackbird
back to the game when an innocent couple Wayne and Carmen
Colson(Jane and Lane)on the verge of divorce witness their
crime and they disappear into the black hole of the Witness
Protection Program. It seems anonymity suits them; thrown
together again by circumstance they manage to patch up their
marriage just long enough for Blackbird and Nix to track
them down and set out to kill them. ***
As with all of Leonard’s work there’s a noir element
that runs through “Killshot” and Madden plays it to the
hilt constructing a tight, often amusing and quirky thriller
that deserved better than bullet to the head its releasing
studio. The reality is this; no one knew quite how to market
this in the high profile releases and the indecision associated
with the film which resulted in the film being second-guessed
to death (so-to-speak) destroyed any chances for this “troubled”
film to see the light from a projector bulb. That’s too
bad because despite its flaws “Killshot” manages to be both
entertaining and a stroll away from the beaten path of most
noir influenced crime thrillers. What’s fascinating is that
Madden doesn’t just focus on the main story line but allows
us to see the erosion of the Colson’s marriage, the miscommunication
and sadness that often infuses lost relationships. ***
That isn’t to suggest that “Killshot” is perfect; the
film suffers from the jittery, flighty structure of having
passed through too many hands who had nothing to do with
the film. Having somebody come in and restructure your film
that had little to nothing to do with the making of it is
like having somebody who knows nothing about your car take
it apart and put it back together without instructions—it
may look roughly the same on the surface but it doesn’t
feel, sound or run right any longer. --- Image & Sound:
I haven’t seen a film look this bad on home video in some
time; the transfer looks decent enough if you watch it out
of the corner of your eye but once you pay attention to
it there are issues with edge enhancement and the over use
of DNR to “soften” the look of a film that was meant to
look harsh. Fine detail is the victim here murdered in the
transfer process. ***
Audio sounds fine with a sharp and forceful 5.1 mix
that puts us in the center of the action scenes and creates
a nice, solid ambient mix. Tension is conveyed by carefully
selecting the elements of the sound track to heighten and
compliment what we see on screen. ---
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