There are no special effects, no kung fu style moves, no excessive killing and no over-the-top swearing and cursing just for the sake of it. Thank you for going against the flow, Christopher Warre Smets, writer and director of this unexpected gem of a movie.
Whilst most movies nowadays seem to need all the above to be a success, 'The Last Hit Man' wins us over by being a thoughtful and emotional glimpse into the last days of a hit-man. It's a simple and unpretentious look into his life and how his work has affected and influenced his daughter's life choices.
The ageing hit-man Harry Tremayne, soberly and devotedly played by Joe Mantegna, is a no nonsense type of man. Refreshingly, he isn't superhuman, he doesn't jump around using unrealistic kung fu moves, he is just an intelligent man who is good at what he does and has earned respect for his years as a professional.
Elizabeth Whitmere plays the part of the daughter, Racquel Tremayne, and does so with believable emotion and surprising depth at times. The daughter is a strong and stable young woman who knows what her father does for a living, which is a good reflection on the father and the way he raised his child even with her knowing, contrasting against the circles he moves in.
While I don't wish to spoil it for you, I thought I would mention the Billy Rosco character, wonderfully played by Romano Orzari. He enters the picture in a scene that delightfully, and memorably, changes the flow of the whole movie. An interesting low-life character that you can't help but like, but also can't quite decide if you can trust.
The ending of the movie had me surprised. Little did I realise that I had subtly become much more emotionally attached to the characters than I had realised. There was a certain dignity to the ending and it stirred up emotions in me that left me pensive and sad. This realisation and also that I had actually been engrossed the whole way through truly reflects on the story, cast and director of this movie.
The only things I dislike about this movie are the title and tagline: "The Last Hit Man - Daddy's little girl is going into the family business". This is about as cheesy as it gets. Neither the title nor tagline really reflect the depth of the movie. A shame really. Seems like marketing cheesers tacked it on as an afterthought. However, if the title is all I can complain about, then there is nothing to worry about.
I thoroughly recommend seeing this movie if you like the genre.
