The Hit (1985)

People are voting emotionally.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

I am quite surprised people tend to overrate The Hit and say it is truly a great little-known movie. Among little known movies it certainly has great qualities, but on the whole it is pretty average.I guess it depends whether you are touched deeper by what is great and then blissfully skip the lesser stuff. This is a fantastic cast indeed. Terence Stamp, Tim Roth and John Hurt do make the show. And the Spanish girl helps too. As usual you may say there are no good actors without a good director. Well no, very good actors can shine in a very average movie and that is exactly the point here. Not that Stephen Frears is a mediocre director - which he proved later - but his work here is hardly adequate.Basically this is a noir film: Past catching up on a guy who did Wrong. There is a fine contrast with shining Spain, the wonderful locations and cinematography, but the script is really not tense. The story runs more like a not too serious fable about Life and Death. The main character appears to have a very philosophical stance on life, while the Spanish gang and Roth's character are on the dumb and clumsy side.I am never too impressed by stone-faced characters. They simply are not interesting, visually and in terms of action. I really think they are the brainchildren of over-indulging authors. John Hurt is great, but frankly his cold-blooded hit-man character is not really convincing. He is not so cold-blooded after all? He has some kind of a slow Epiphany? He just forgets to be the uptight professional he used to? The ending is really not satisfactory. The Hit spent like 1h20 making us appreciate every single character as a human being and then it tips the house of cards. Actually every one is discarded, except the Spanish actors (the girl and Fernando Rey doing little more than multiple cameos) who played the least developed characters.

Low key drama is very interesting if you give it time and listen to the dialog. The acting by the four main characters is effective, the story is straightforward, and the outcome is always in doubt. Special mention must be made of the excellent score and scenery. John Hurt elicits tension with his minimalist performance. Terrence Stamp shows detached indifference to his pending fate. Tim Roth and Laura Del Sol also give convincing performances. Some terrific camera angles and sharp direction adds to the overall enjoyment of "The Hit". This is not a loud movie, but rather a very quiet one that will hold your attention despite a leisurely pace. - MERK

i only heard about this film when i saw it on someones list of best films,thought it was really good willies a bastard from the beginning trying to play head games and turn them against each other but the girls more dangerous shes just as manipulative and sly was kind of hoping that the ending would be willie being taken to Paris and facing his former mates that he betrayed would have been nice if we could have found out more about his past crimes and find out how he was found in the first place a truly underrated British film it reminds me a bit of cohen and tate a old film from 1990 where two hit man snatch someone and have to take a road trip and survive the mind games ...........the hit is a really good film

John Hurt's strongest feature is his voice, full of shading and subtlety yet splendidly articulate with an attractive timbre. So why in HELL would he be cast as a professional killer with maybe twenty-five lines of dialog in the whole picture? What a waste!A very young Tim Roth with a blond dye job looks underfed and downright weird, though he does try for the eager apprentice thing and in places gets it right. The distinguished Spanish actor Fernando Rey has a tiny part, not appearing until the movie is three-quarters over.Ms. del Sol looks attractive though her character--unlike her bosom-- is hardly developed. Terrence Stamp looks better than ever but has little to do in the picture, which lurches from crime drama to travelogue (some nice shots of the countryside of northern Spain) to philosophical exposition, unable to decide what it wants to be. The script writer apparently didn't know how to end the story. By then he must have been told that the movie already was too long. The ending he chose seems tacked on, with heavy borrowing from the Ambrose Bierce short story "Parker Adderson, Philosopher". What's good apart from the beauty of the Basque country are the action sequences near the start and at the very beginning the English courtroom scene.