The Age of Commercialism

Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

This movie was picked up at the video shop so as to make up the four DVDs that I was hiring for the cheap price, and as it turned out, this was the better of the four movies that I hired. Victor Maynard is 54 and an assassin. He has no friends, and the only family he has is his mother, who lives in a nursing home, and is his only source of company (other than his cat). She is very well aware of his occupation, and he has gone into his father's profession, and is mother is quite a piece of work as well.However life is about to change for Maynard, and it involves a small time thief and con-woman, Rose. She upsets somebody when she 'borrows' a painting, has it copied, and then sells the copy to an art collector, who quickly discovers that it is a copy. So he hires Victor Maynard to get even with Rose. However, Maynard discovers that not all contracts are equal, and that it can be hard to separate professionalism from emotion.It is not that Maynard falls in love with her, he eventually does, but not at the beginning. He simply cannot kill her. No matter how hard he tries, she just seems to continue to slip through his fingers, and it is only when she discovers him, and he is forced to kill another hit man to uphold his reputation, that he suddenly finds himself being moved from a killer to a protector. Further, protecting somebody is a lot harder than simply killing somebody (as Maynard discovers), though in Rose's case, killing her was not that easy either.At the start the movie is quite amusing, however this diminishes when they get out of London and hide out in his country estate. The movie then degenerates into a standard hit man type movie where he finally discovers that he has a heart, and that he wants to settle down. Still, during his adventure, he has also picked up an apprentice, though this apprentice simply seemed to be in the right place at the right time. Most hit-man movies has the apprentice beg to become the apprentice of the aging hit-man, however here Maynard offers it to Tony, who, believing he is a private detective, takes him up on his offer.

Nice little British movie about art forgery, swindling and assassination, all good fun, with a strong cast. Bill Nighy is likable as ever, although convincingly cold-blooded at the requisite moments; Emily Blunt is suitably infuriating and adorable in equal measure; and Rupert Grint cements his Brit Pack credentials, although I'd like to see him in a more serious and 'gritty' role. There isn't much for Martin Freeman (nice teeth); Rupert Everett (nice stubble) or Gregor Fisher to do, but it's good to see them nonetheless. It all feels a bit rushed to me, and the end comes on very suddenly and is all a bit too convenient, leaving a sense that it could have been more substantial and interesting given a bit more effort on the storyline, enjoyable enough though if you have a forgiving nature, definitely worth a look.

The title clearly shows what we'll get from this extraordinary comedy. Emily Blunt and Bill Nighy give a rich and refined performance and the screenplay is simply gorgeous. Casting, cameras, costume, locations, punch lines: congratulations to all the team. A British must!So why a few stars missing? The music has its ups and downs. Good choice of songs but a main soundtrack is missing Some specific chapters lack musical support to be really effective. The speedy cameras on the car chases are definitely avoidable. Details that perhaps the director could have reconsidered... Still a wonderful, enjoyable film.

This film is a treat - especially if you find Emily Blunt irresistible, as I do. She plays an amoral thief who becomes entangled with a professional assassin played brilliantly with fantastic comic timing by Bill Nighy. Nighy can make you hoot with small almost imperceptible mannerisms and expressions. A few of my favourite actors people this film - Martin Freeman, Eileen Atkins, Nighy and Gregor Fisher but even Rupert Everett, whom I cannot stand, does OK in this black comedy. Rupert Grint of Harry Potter fame shows that he can do more than Ron Weasley and has great timing too. Wild Target is a great piece of ensemble work that everyone should see.