a5c7b9f00b Socially anxious hitman Melvin Smiley, an expert in his lucrative field, goes on a job and falls in love with his kidnapping victim, turning his world upside down. To payoff his second girlfriend's debt, hitman Melvin Smiley undertakes a kidnapping job with his usual associates. In a world of prospective Jewish in-laws and late movie fees, the hitman falls in love with the victim and must settle the score with those out to double-cross him. I thought this was an entertaining film, if not a really great one. There is comedy aplenty, with much of it revolving around a gorgeous kidnapped girl, played to perfection by newcomer China Chow, trying to escape. The plot has been covered by several reviewers, so I'll not bother with another recap. The film has several large "names" in it, such as Mark Wahlberg, Lou Diamond Phillips, Christina Applegate, Avery Brooks, Lanie Kazan and Eliot Gould. The acting, however, isn't the film's strong point - surprising when you consider that cast. Chow, in fact, steals the show from nearly everyone. The dialog overall isn't particularly good either. These guys (excepting Wahlberg) use the "F" word far too much. While I know that criminal elements do use that sort of language, it was used so much in this film that the viewer gets sick of it (I did anyway). The writing is this film's strength, with humor nicely interspersed with violence. The humor scenes are very funny, the violence scenes are very violent, so there's not much middle ground in the film anywhere. There is some intrigue, a double-cross (or is it a triple?), plenty of action and adventure, a little romance and lots of humor thrown in for good measure. The film has something for everyone. I just wish they'd toned the language down a bit…it hurts the film overall. Overall, I enjoyed the film and, while it's definitely NOT a family film, due to both language and violence, once the kiddies go to bed, this one might be an option for a rental. This movie is about a day in the life of a hit man played by actor Mark Whalberg. Melvin (Mark Whalberg) has good life thanks to his talent as a hit man, but has very working class mentality going about his life. But none of the girls he associates with shares his work ethics, but just sees him as a cash cow, and a guy to dump all their troubles on to, until Cisco (Lou Diamond Phillips) kidnaps a Japanese mogul Jiro's (Sab Nishi) daughter Keiko (China Chow) and dumps her on to his lap. Keiko is the first to sympathize with Melvin and hits it off with him.<br/><br/>There are three stories going on simultaneously in this movie: One with Cisco and his boss Paris (Avery Brooks) who's a friend of Jiro's and wants the guy who kidnapped Keiko dead (not knowing that it's actually Cisco who did it). Second with Melvin's girl friend Pam (Christina Applegate) who's Jewish, and has a mother who is against her marrying this Irish Catholic guy. Third with Melvin and Keiko who's being kept at his house. All three converge at Melvin's house at lunch, and pandemonium breaks loose.<br/><br/>The story line is one of the most original, and is a feel good movie '90s style where the under dog anti-hero gets the good he deserves in the end. The riot is seeing all the other materialistic people around Melvin all trying to take advantage of him showing how nice of a guy he is despite his choice of profession.<br/><br/>Was this movie great ? Yes !! And is highly recommended. Unquestionably a slick piece of goods. The training and experience of Wong and his crew –- culled largely from such action series as "La Femme Nikita" and "Once a Thief" –- keep the film lively and vivid.
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