Killers (2010)
Directed by: Robert Luketic
Premise: An assassin (Ashton Kutcher) falls for a woman (Katherine Heigl) and leaves his line of work. Years later, his former employer tries to assassinate the couple.
What Works: Killers features a pair of strong supporting roles by Tom Selleck and Catherine O’Hara as the parents of Katherine Heigl’s character. They provide a lot of humor to the film, especially O’Hara who elevates the scenes she is in.
What Doesn’t: Killers is largely a retread of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, recapitulating that film’s basic premise and some of its gags. Unfortunately, Killers isn’t as good as Mr. and Mrs. Smith; the comedy isn’t nearly as funny, the action is nowhere near as exciting, and the romance lacks the predecessor’s spark and believability. Although both Kutcher and Heigl have proven their acting talents in other roles, saving this film is beyond their or any actor’s abilities. The film’s dialogue is tin-eared, cliché, and false and the relationship between the two leads never gets to anything real. And that is in spite of a very long set up, delaying the start of the actual plot of the story well into the running time of the film. Killers also suffers from a problem in its tone. The comedy and the action do not mix well at all; the comedy is mostly based in silly physical gags but the action scenes use a lot of brutal or even gory scenarios. Violence and comedy can work together if they are presented in correct proportion and in ways that complement each other, as they do in Fargo, Kill Bill, or Grosse Pointe Blank but this film never finds that balance. Killers makes its greatest offense in the ending, which is among the worst conclusions to a major motion picture in recent memory.
Bottom Line: Killers is a bad movie that starts out on the wrong foot and never rights itself.
Episode: #293 (June 20, 2010)