The Big Hit

Joker killer movies are so hard to maintain. Especially in Hollywood, where irony starves from lack of recognition. When Melvin (Mark Wahlberg) hauls carrier bags into the suburban home he shares with girlfriend, Pam (Christina Applegate), you are supposed to chuckle at their contents. Melvin says they are cuts of deer for the freezer, when actually they are gangster parts, waiting for dismemberment.

The second resistable gag is that Melvin is a polite young fellow, who only wants to be liked. His day job is a professional hitman - "Does that pay well?" "Sure, I make a killing."

A teenage Japanese American (China Chow) is kidnapped, which causes problems because her dad is a buddy of the local black godfather. Naturally, the girl fancies Melvin and ends up handcuffed to him, while cooking a kosher meal for Pam's folks. What the film attempts has nothing to do with pratfalls. Che-Kirk Wong was brought over from Hong Kong to direct.

He is from the next generation of John-Woo-inspired action specialists. The gun battles have a terrible destructiveness. As for the characterisation, only Lou Diamond Phillips, as Melvin's two-faced sidekick, has any idea of comic timing. Elliott Gould, as Pam's alcoholic father, is too embarrasing to mention and Wahlberg won't be knocking on Nic Cage's door for any reject superhero roles.