Should you watch this at weekday movie ticket prices? If you like Anna Kendrick.
Score: 2.5/5
Secret ending? No.
Running time: 92 minutes (~1.5 hours)
“Mr. Right” is a romantic comedy with a lot of action. Recently dumped Martha falls in love with a hit man, Francis, but finds that his life might not be what she envisioned. It stars Sam Rockwell (Francis), Anna Kendrick (Martha), Tim Roth (Hopper), RZA (Steven), James Ransone (Vaughn), and Anson Mount (Richard Cartigan). It is rated M-18.
“Mr. Right” feels like a witty, offbeat comedy if this were a different era. It’s not that it’s dated, just that it seems to fit the zeitgeist of some other world that’s similar to us. Mechanically, there’s nothing wrong with the story or characters, as they all contribute to the greater purpose of the film. It’s just that it all feels so out of synch that you can’t help feeling this movie came out in the wrong place, at the wrong time.
Highlights
Funny action
The action scenes are polished and also hilarious, since there’s always a complication involved in the fights. Otherwise, the way Francis (Sam Rockwell) is written, the battles would be over in two minutes. There are also some surprising payoffs to the fights, especially towards the end of the film. The stunts fit the comedic tone of the movie, rather than taking away from it, which is rare in action comedies.
Dark humour
You really wouldn’t expect anything else out of a film about a woman who falls in love with a hit man, right? Death is constantly being mocked and there are murders aplenty in “Mr. Right,” with the requisite jokes being made about the how and the why of the killings. It also carries a dark twist that isn’t gruesome, but a rather clever resolution of a plot thread you thought they threw away an hour ago.
Letdowns
Tries too hard to be clever and insightful
The movie really feels like an old grandfather spouting pop culture phrases in an attempt to fit in with his hip young grandchildren. Martha (Anna Kendrick) talks about her plight as if she’s giving a commentary on the state of relationships in the world, and Francis talks about his work issues as if it’s a pandemic affecting the millennial workforce. All this seemingly smart dialogue has you doing a double take instead of nodding your head in agreement, and really needs to be rewritten.
Sam Rockwell is too busy preening to actually act
I understand that Mr Right is supposed to be some dreamboat or some such, but does he need to stop and pose in every single fight? He swaggers around as if he’s a debonair playboy instead of, you know, a deadly hit man who really shouldn’t be drawing so much attention to himself? Some attempt at showing inner conflict would have gone a long way towards giving him some character, instead of perpetually projecting a devil-may-care attitude.
The age gap between the leads is too large
Francis looks like a cradle snatcher next to Martha, and his scruffy exterior next to Martha’s flawless complexion ends up creating the illusion that he’s twice her age. Reality isn’t that much better either, since Sam Rockwell is one and a half times Anna Kendrick’s age. They’re a mismatch that doesn’t make sense, doesn’t look compatible, and doesn’t feel right. And since the pairing feels so awkward, you end up not really caring if the couple get together in the end. If you can’t even root for the central characters of the film, then the movie loses its entire raison d’etre.
“Mr. Right” could have been a better movie under different circumstances, but in our world, it just feels like “Mr. Wrong.”
“Mr. Right” opens in cinemas 21 April, 2016 (Thursday).
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