Plot
John Knox is a career hit-man, who has just been diagnosed with a fast progressing form of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a form of dementia.
When his long estranged son comes to him, having killed the 36 year old man who impregnated his teen daughter begging for help – John leaps into action.
He has developed a “plan” to fix both the future, and perhaps the past?
With a dedicated cop on his tail (following a triple murder he committed in one of his dementia fugue states), he must contend with her too.
Direction
Directed by the lead star Michael Keaton in his directorial debut. It is done extremely well, with often the camera cuts acting as John’s failing mind. There are some terrific uses of camera angles, and Keaton has clearly taken notes along his decades long career.
Cast/Characters
Michael Keaton plays John Knox, who is battling the fast progressing form of Dementia known as Creutzfeldt-Jakob diseases.
James Marsden plays his son Miles Knox, who comes to his father for help in covering up a murder he committed.
Suzy Nakamura plays Det Emily Ikari, who is seemingly one step away from discovering a series of murders that John committed.
Al Pacino plays Xavier Crane, a former mentor of John’s who he confides in about his condition, and plan to cover up Miles’ kill.
Marcia Gay Harden plays John’s ex wife, in an all too brief role. More of Ms Harden… always more!
Other cast include Joanna Kulig (as the prostitute John see’s on a weekly basis), Ray McKinnon (as Muncie, John’s partner who he accidentally kills in one of his dementia fugue states) and John Hoogenakker as Det Rale, Ikari’s partner.
Breakdown
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this, even though the “hit-man” with memory loss has been done to death in the past. John’s diagnosis happens early (with an extremely fast progressing case of Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease) and is fairly close to home for me as one of my relatives passed from this a few years ago.
I found his portrayal of this, and Keaton’s own directing hand (his debut behind the camera too) made the disease almost one of the characters. There are cuts/changes of angles/change of positions of character – even changes of aspect ratio at times – and its clear that Keaton has been taking notes along his career.
I liked how they wrote John to be an “anti hero” – but an exceedingly educated one, as its revealed early that he seemingly likes to read – and then throughout – he is known to have been military trained, as well as educated (with two PhDs). He is more apathetic to those who he must take contracts out on, removing himself of the ‘who’ and the ‘why’s’
There is also a very well written cop on his tail, who is investigating a triple murder (which John is responsible for early in the film, successfully killing the ‘hit’ but accidentally killing his partner at the same time).
She is brilliantly played by Suzy Nakamura, and its a brilliant use of progressive casting – not only being a woman but also one of Asian decent.
James Marsden is also solid too, albeit a little underused. His role within the film is the ‘main’ story – where he begs his father to help cover up a murder he committed (killing the man who raped and impregnated his daughter). This story-point is part of John’s “plan” and while the audience is kept in the dark – this is revealed later in the film. I actually found this to be a brilliant ruse by John – and while it’s slightly convoluted on paper – it is depicted brilliantly on camera.
There is also a surprising amount of heart in the film, especially in the scene between John and his ex wife Ruby, played by the always amazing Marcia Gay Harden. I would have loved to see more of her.
Overall
I really enjoyed this one. I thought the performances were great, the direction from Keaton is sensational.
Well written, with engaging characters (especially the cops who are on his tail).
While this is far from an original concept, I found what was presented, everything you need in a movie. It might not have been given great reviews, but it gets one from me.
4.5/5
Please also check out my Podcast on Youtube, where we review a new movie every week! Please subscribe!
Ryan's Movie Reviews 