Robyn Candyce
Based on the Novel “The Prone Gunman,” by Jean-Patrick Manchette, written by Don MacPherson (“The Avengers”) and Pete Travis (“Dredd”), and directed by Pierre Morel (“Taken”) “The Gunman” – starring Sean Penn (Jim Terrier), Javier Bardem (Felix), Jasmine Trinca (Annie), Ray Winstone (Stanley), Mark Rylance (Cox), Idris Elba (DuPont) – Is your basic action thriller with one of your basic stock action plots. Jim Terrier, former black ops, was a hit man for hire, who didn’t ask questions, just took the money and shot regardless of the consequences. At the close of his final job – with the group of assassins he was then working with – he is forced to flee the continent of Africa, leaving Annie (the love of his life) behind him, and trusting her to the care of Felix – the leader of this group of assassins.
Eight years later Jim has moved on with his life and all is well, until out of the blue an assassination attempt is made on his life, and he realizes his past has finally caught up to him. Now Jim has to figure out who is trying to take him out and why, and get to them before they can get to him. Things get complicated however, when Jim traces the contract of the hit back to Felix – who is now married to Annie. As Jim gets tangled further into a complicated web of conspiracy he realizes that saving himself isn’t the only thing that matters.
While the film’s script lacks in originality, and in-depth character development, it also owns special effects which seem to be more than a bit unfeasible, and direction that is definitely reminiscent of “Taken.” However, the artistry behind the film is amazing, and deserves to be recognized. Everything from Flavio Martinez Labiano’s (“Non-Stop”) cinematography to Andrew Laws’ (“Yes”) production design is fantastic. Additionally, the performances were very strong, and while I don’t anticipate this film getting nominated for any Oscars I can honestly say it was pleasantly surprising to witness the quality of the performances considering the basic structure of the script, and the predicable dialogue that the actors had to work with. With that in mind I’m not going to tell you that this film isn’t worth seeing in theaters. I am going to tell you if you choose to wait for the DVD release no one will look down on you for it.
