The Hit
Director: Stephen Frears
Year Released: 1984
Rating: 1.5
After ratting out his former buddies in court and hiding in Spain for ten years, literate Terence Stamp's 'free time' is up as two hit men (John Hurt and Tim Roth) kidnap him and plan to drive him to Paris to finish him off (why they just don't shoot him in Spain is besides the point, I guess - there wouldn't be a movie). On the whole it is needlessly plodding - Frears and screenwriter Peter Prince seem to have intended for this to be some kind of existential road picture but one single conversation about facing and accepting death - "It's as natural as breathing ... why should we be scared?" - just isn't enough to grant the film substance. Roth is excellent in a very early performance: jittery and brash compared to Hurt's pensive kidnapper.
