Killing Time
Killing Time
R | 30 January 1998 (USA)
Killing Time Trailers

After the mobster who murdered his partner is acquitted, semicorrupt detective Robert Bryant hires a beautiful female assassin, Maria, to kill him. When he discovers that he cannot afford Maria's services, Bryant is forced to hire another assassin, Madison, to kill her. Maria survives the doublecross and sets out to collect what's owed to her, one way or another.

Reviews
innocuous

As a cynical take on British gangster movies, this film is highly successful.(***Slight Spoilers!***)Is it unrealistic? Absolutely. One striking thing about this film is that there are absolutely no bystanders to be seen anywhere. Every single person you see on screen, even in the metropolitan areas, is either a part of the action or a victim of the violence. This movie is entirely "extraless". Deserted subway stations, empty streets, and guestless hotel lobbies are the rule. Hotel guests don't complain about gunfire in the hotel, but they do complain about noisy plumbing when a couple cell phones are flushed down the toilet. And the idea of a hit-woman (who would want to be low-profile and unmemorable) who is strikingly beautiful, dressed like a "Matrix" reject, and who speaks absolutely no English even though she has to carry out a hit in England, does not require further comment.Does it have any significant backstory or character development? No...absolutely not. You take the characters as you get them. They are cartoons.Does it demonstrate any moral judgment? Don't worry...nothing challenging in this department either.So why is it worth seeing?Well, it is a fairly pure movie in that it has few pretensions other than to mock certain film conventions. There are some deft touches, including several at the end of the movie. The final shot, with the hit-woman "disappearing" over an extended period, is rather memorable, even if pure film-school.In summary, I have wasted time on supposedly better crime movies (like "The Road to Perdition")and actually enjoyed this film. If you have a chance to see this relatively short and unpretentious movie, I think that you should.

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pstubbs

I am reminded of MARK TWAIN'S "litterary grievances of JAMES FENNIMORE-COOPER" (something like that)The cover girl IS hot... However, the movie is not. The movie is exactly like just watching everything happen as it happens, the actors aren't that bad, but the film does not give the story any background or the characters any debth, just guns, fowl languagem, guns, and more fowl language. And oh yeah, they threw in some nudity, but like everything else in the movie, it didn't help out the plot.People do not watch movies to feel indifferent. This movie blows!

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CipherCode

This was a wonderful movie. It was a little slow at times, and the subplot was a little annoying, but by the time the credits rolled I was an absolute fan. The movie from the hitwoman's perspective was stylish and fun, Kendra Torgan did a wonderful job. This film is a treasure in the hitman genre of films.

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JOHN WALTON

Lacking the gritty tension of other northern gangster movies (eg Get Carter). Could have improved with a bit more humour (the shadow-play & Evian trick were highspots of the movie). Lighting-camerawork did little to create the appropriate drama. I hope we see Kendra in a speaking-role soon.

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