With a harsh childhood in the slums of Bucharest leaving him no escape, Viktor joins up with a local gangster and soon develops a reputation for ruthlessness and efficiency. After years of developing his skills he is betrayed by those he serves, so he fakes his death and escapes to London. Landing in the middle of a gang war, his talents are soon put to good use. But with his past refusing to fade away, he begins to look for a way out.
The story of a ruthless hitman trying to escape his past is nothing new, but Interview With A Hitman stands out from its refusal to glamorise the portrayal of underworld life. There are no scenes of extravagant parties with bottles of champagne, pile of drugs and bevies of implausibly beautiful prostitutes as is often the norm for organised crime dramas. Here there is just the cold grim reality of facing death in the face almost every day, and a look at what a person must become in order to merely survive it.
Not many 80s heartthrob pop stars get the opportunity to overshadow a bright but short brush with fame by developing a reputation as a versatile actor, but Luke Goss has convincingly managed it. Playing a number of sinister villains in DTV thrillers might not seem like much, but he has enough presence to have been cast twice by Guillermo del Toro, both times as the otherworldly principal antagonist. Here he is a man whose greatest strength is the will to see whatever task he undertakes to its grim conclusion. He offers no apologies for what he does, nor is he truly seeking any kind of absolution. He just wants his past to stay there and allow him the freedom to properly move on, but old enemies and past transgressions refuse to stop resurfacing, forcing him to go on the offensive.
Although you wouldn’t ever expect a hitman to be the chattiest of characters, it takes direction far more competent than that on display here to express a character’s emotions with a minimum of dialogue. The opening scene of the film is quite effective, with almost ten minutes before the first spoken word is uttered while Viktor prepares for a hit, but the frustrating refusal to be allowed inside characters’ heads makes the motivations of everyone somewhat murky, and several unforeshadowed revelations all but meaningless.
While the ruthless stoicism of the film’s characters is one of its strengths in terms of realism, it detracts from potential characterisation. The frequent time skips fail to clearly establish what is supposed to be happening in each new setting, just launching us straight into more sequences of shooting and wordless bravado with a new set of anonymous bit-players. While not lacking in entertainment, a film needs more to truly be worthy of note.
Overall Verdict: A less flashy gangster film that benefits from its gritty realism while suffering from the associated tacit characterisation.
Special Features:
None
Reviewer: Andrew Marshall