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about 2 years ago

The Gunman

a review by CinemaSerf

Sean Penn really should have thought twice before engaging with this derivative and procedural drama. He is sharp-shooter "Terrier" whose accuracy put paid to the Congolese Minister for Mines and sets in train a remarkably lacklustre thriller that sees Interpol and corporate greed now out to get him. Pierre Morel has assembled a surprisingly notable cast here with Javier Bardem probably the best of the bunch as the duplicitous "Felix"; Idris Elba ("Barnes") appears sparingly and adds little - though not as little as the terrible effort from the completely un-menacing Ray Winstone's "Stanley" - who ought to have just stuck with looking for waterfalls. The dialogue borders on the puerile and the acting is so ploddingly set-piece that even the shoot-outs and jungle scenarios cannot breathe life into this. I haven't read Jean-Patrick Manchette's original novel, but if this adaptation is in any way true to the book, then I won't be bothering.