The review that said, "If the writing was better, it would have been a hit." That sums it up. Everything else about this was very good - sound, scenery, physical acting. It's all there, but it isn't
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Tr-u-mpbilly16 December 2018
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LordCommandar8 December 2018Ron Perlman plays the role of contract killer and after being giving the job to kill the people who were behind the murder of a family attached to his crime family organization, he gets in front of the apartment door of the one of his hits, he then collapses from an old wound that has taking a toll on his body and crash lands on another apartment door (Famke) she opens he completely goes down on her floor and there the old formula of the contractor falling in love and wanting to get out the business begins. Has this been done before? Yes. Is this film bad? Not at all. Definitely watchable. And it's not just because I'm a big Perlman fan, but the story did make sense. At best, a weekend afternoon, I got time to kill film. Nothing more, but decent.
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Leofwine_draca29 September 2019A lot of people have a lot of nice things to say about HITMAN REDEMPTION, a low budget action thriller starring Ron Perlman in a LEON-esque role, but I'm afraid I don't buy it. This one's just one step above an indie in terms of directorial budget and convincingness, and the whole thing smacks of cliche and predictability. As usual a hitman plays to retire after one final job, but things get messed up along the way and he himself becomes a target. Give me a break. This plot's so old it needs decent suspense and action to make it work, but sadly HITMAN REDEMPTION has neither of those; it's merely average. The one thing it does have going for it is a better-than-average cast, with Famke Janssen sensitive in a key role and old-timer Richard Dreyfuss popping up for the fun ofi t.
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It was good to see such great performances from Ron Perlman and Famke Janssen, but Richard Dreyfuss was about as convincing as his fake accent. The directing was right on point, as was the score. But the writing from amateur Jay Zaretsky is what killed this film. This was only his 2nd (first being a short) writing attempt, and although the story premise in itself was decent, the screenplay was terrible. This film needed a seasoned screenwriter to edit/cut out and speed up the overly slow paced and too long 117 min length down to 80-90 mins, as well as fix some of the poor dialogue. Had this film been played at 1.2x faster speed, it may have held my attention better. The entire last 15-20 mins only needed to be 5 min. Great to see Ron Perlman back on the big screen, need to see more of him in these type of roles, and hopefully we will. It's a 7/10 from me - would have been 8 or 9/10 had the screenplay been edited down and tighter.
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naxus_nkt9 January 2019This Ron Perlman movie is about an aging hitman who found love with circumstances out of his control. I personally think that when a movie is engaging and make you sit to watch it till the end then it's a good movie. Ron Perlman and Famke Janssen have done justice to their respective role but Jacqueline Bisset has done really well with her part. I wonder why this movie has such low rating as it deserve more. It's a little slow but still engaging . I will say dont miss it
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itsbobr24 January 2019Aging Hitman Asher (Ron Perlman) usually works alone, but agrees to a team hit that goes wrong and this marks him for elimination. We never find out who the new group is, but Asher's handler Avi (Richard Dreyfuss) makes a deal with them and to terminate Asher. Now Asher has to protect his love interest Sophie (Framke Jansssen) because that new group is also targeting her. Oh, oh!
Well, he's not Jason Bourne, Agent 47,or John Wick, but he's good and new on the scene and I am sure we will see more Asher movies.
This was more than pretty good. Very enjoyable and we see that Asher has his finger on every pulse and can be trusted to perform. He did have a blackout early on when he was about to off someone in an apartment, but Sophie opened her door as he lay on the floor. And yes, he did come back to finish that muffed job. So now you know how he met Sophie and it is here he ends up breaking one of his rules to not get involved with anyone. (You love it when a hitman breaks his rules, right?) So true.
Notables: Jacqueline Bisset as Dora, Sophie's mother who has dementia; Peter Facinelli as Uzi, a hitman that Asher trained back in the day and is now taking jobs away from Asher; Marta Milans as Marina, who helps Asher with a hit from time to time; Blake Periman as Hannah, Uzi's wife; Ned Eisenberg as Abram, the dry cleaner who gives Asher the envelope for the next hit.
The acting all around is first rate and I am sure we will see more Asher movies unless a noise in the last scene that Asher heard laying in bed next to Sophie was not a deer in the woods. Hmmmmmm..... HA! (7/10)
Violence; Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Humor: No. Language: One F-bomb by Sophie. Rating: B -
micglou20 December 2018Story wise this movie has some potential with the hitman for the Jewish Maffia angle... but it's just poorly executed. I love Ron Perlman, but this was a very stiff performance, the rest of the cast was also 'mweh' at best... directing not strong, script not strong. Not saying it's a bad movie, it's okay for a boring sunday evening when you've got nothing else to see.
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lavatch3 February 2019Along Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn, there are memories of old Ebbets Field and Betty Smith's endearing coming-of-age story "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn." Along with the friendly neighborhood atmosphere, a local cleaners is run by a nice man who delivers messages and assigns special jobs to a "contractor" named Asher. It turns out that Asher is a hit man, and the contracts are fees paid to him for committing murders.
Ron Perlman is outstanding as the mild-mannered contractor who goes by the nickname of The Tin Man. While he may have problems with his ticker, he is spot on with his shooting abilities. But this Tin Man is not missing a heart in the metaphorical sense, as he has a soft spot for one of residents in his apartment complex, a ballet instructor named Sophie (Famke Jansen).
The heart and soul of this low-key thriller is not the overly contrived power play unfolding within a Brooklyn crime syndicate. Rather, it is the touching relationship between the gentle giant Asher and the emotionally wounded Sofie, who is trying to support her mother who has dementia.
The best scenes in the film are the quiet moments between Asher and Sophie. While enjoying a nice dinner in a restaurant, Asher visits the restroom where he is attacked and kills his assailant. He then calmly returns to the table and invites Sophie to leave before their food is served. She believes he wants to have sex. He realizes he needs to escape a crime scene. In another powerful scene, Asher and Sophie pay a visit to her mother, and Asher is about to smother her with a pillow, before Sophie blunders in.
"Asher" is filled with ironic moments like the restaurant and smothering scenes. The unpleasant experience of having to look over one's shoulder all the time in the dangerous underworld of crime is not pleasant. Asher seeks a kind of redemption in the eyes of Sophie. But will he ever be able to escape his past as the trigger-happy Tin Man? -
justindb17 December 2018Watch Ron Pearlman drinks wine for 10 consecutive minutes you found the right movie.
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battlebuckships8 January 2019I just finished watching this piece. With an amazing cast like this. One will want to view this film. Ron Pearlman, brilliant as always, Richard Dreyfuss, Jacqueline Bisset. With this cast of actors on board. It'll make any film come out on point. Famke as beautiful as always. I always enjoy her performances. Overall not a bad piece of work to watch. This kind of film has been done before but you will enjoy this cast of extreme professionals as they make it look so real. I did enjoy watching...:)
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Here in England this movie was released DTV & titled "Hitman's Redemption" which does sound alot better than "Asher" & i had to get it as I'm a big Ron Perlman fan, he's a fantastic B-movie actor who always makes the movie worth seeing just because he's in it, well he's actually a magnificent actor & one of my all time favourites (Top 5) & it's so nice for the big guy to get a big juicy lead role as this as Asher.
Perlman is so good in his role here he's actually magnificent & his best performance in my opinion!!!! Ron is sweet, charming & gentleman-like in his role as the ageing hitman named Asher, a man of Brooklyn, an interesting guy & is matched with the fantastic Famke Janssen really is a beautiful thing in this movie.
"THE PEARL" as he is known has been a huge part of my movie-loving-world as i grew up watching Cartoons where Ron voiced many of the characters (Bonkers, Batman the animated series 90's) & i didn't even realise & film wise my first big introduction to the Cool Badass was the extremely underrated, but my favourite of the franchise, ALIEN: RESURRECTION way bk in 1997 & from there i was a fan.
Ron stole the whole movie with his role as Johner in ALIEN: RESURRECTION & he did it that again years later with his role as Reinhardt in the superior sequel BLADE 2!!!! The grizzled tough badass is a scene stealer or in those particular cases a Movie stealer!!!
Ron is an underrated treasure within the movie world & as i said was a big part of movie geek world growing up & i always check his flicks out just because he's in it. Like William Sadler & Robert Patrick & Tom Atkins & Will Smith & Dan Aykroyd & Chevy Chase, dude means alot to me.
"ASHER" is Ron's best performance & he's magnificent on screen & effortlessly Cool, funny & decent just like he is in real life (Read his Outstanding Book, Easy Street: The Hard Way) Ron is king guy but no idiot, he will stand up for the little guy & i love him for it & his unique filmography.
Ron gives such a superb,gentle & almost sweet performance as Asher, he portrays his aging Assassin as a lonely, quiet man who looks at his skills as just a job & that's it but this job has cost him a real life & he's very lonely with no wife or kids, he just has his job that he's excellent at but now age is catching up with him & he doesn't know what to & with this amazing little character study we have a delicate love story that slowly unfolds with two troubled, lost & very lonely souls. The writing here is beautiful & really touched me. This is a lovely film that is part hitman crime Thriller & part sweet love story & all put on screen perfectly!!!
Famke Janssen is also fantastic as Sophie another lost & tragic soul living in the big city who befriends Asher & their relationship is really moving & sweet & her performance is a powerhouse one!!!!
The cinematography is stunning.
The old jazz musical score is beautiful & so well suited to this old Assassin going about his business like he's still just holding on to the old days but everything is changing.
There's so much heart & soul to this little Noir type Thriller that has good humour as well as it's lovely tender moments & some kickass brutal scenes that are thrilling & exciting, Ron should've got some sort of an award for his performance!!! Some things really do get better with age.
A beautifully crafted old fashioned crime Thriller.
ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT. -
mrscottmc14 December 2018How can you produce a movie with this many names and not know how a fire sprinkler works??? Oh let me just blow a little smoke in the air and set off the sprinkler. Can you imagine if it was that easy to ruin a building? Then there is the setting off a fire alarm to shoot somebody plan, does that seem like a smart plan? No one else comes out when the fire alarm goes off, just the intended target. Wow this was just awful.
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There's too little action here for me to label it as an action movie. The "suspense" is mostly trying to figure out what the story is about, so I won't give any spoilers. Suffice to say that it's very slow paced, but I enjoyed watching it once only, considering how hard it is for me to find good movies these days.
I mainly watched it because of Framke Janssen who I liked in Taken, and Ron Perlman who I remembered from The Startup. It was good seeing both of them. Fortunately I kept my expectations low, so it worked out. I would have liked more action but the story was okay. -
natcalgary10 December 2018I enjoy Ron Perlmans acting, and everyone else did a pretty solid job as well. Predictable in some parts but I enjoyed it for the most part.
Are you ever really out???
6.2 -
frankemail-5608014 June 2020A brave attempt at neo noir involving a geriatric hitman with limited range of facial expressions -a generous claim of mine as its the same expression when killing or saying I love you
He's matched with a podgy balding geriatric handler.
However it does have the attractive lady. Only instead of the femme fatale,, she's sweet and looks after her elderly mother and teaches young children ballet. How she could be attracted to the single expression, single voice tone, elderly wobbly hitman does provoke some thinking though.
The plot is the dullest plot I can think of.
NOW, if the film had been billed as a parody of film noir, it might have become a classic! Especially the daft scenes with the umbrella when only the victim ever gets concerned about the fire alarm/sprinklers going off -
wjosephjorob12 December 2018Asher is a nice look into the mind of a criminal who has reached the pinnacle of his career, Ron Perlman comes out smelling like a Rose with his subtle and quirky performance, the the rest of the supporting cast goes along for the ride, a couple of really funny moments dealing with one of the characters caring for their ailing mother is hilarious, we all reach a certain point in our lives we yearn for something more and meaningful and that is what this movie succeeded at projecting to the viewer, a nice little gem, I hope it finds an audience.
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arfdawg-112 December 2018Ron Perleman is not a good actor unless he's playing a monster and this movie is really poorly written. The dialog is amateurish at best.
What passes for drama is actually exceedingly slow exposition.
Further, credits say this was filmed upstate when the exteriors are clearly Brooklyn.
Dreyfus delivers his lines like he just learned them before the camera started rolling. Not even close to a good performance.
Not worth your time. -
amr-mohd721 December 2018Low budget movie with no seniro wasted 45 min with out understand what is really happening the purpose of the movie ...?! events been occurs without any logect
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retailkitchenfit12 September 2020The argument is that everyone has an opinion and is entitled to give it, difficult to argue with that but in reviewing a film you need to offer a little more than it wasn't what you wanted or thought it was.
Agreed this is a slow burner, that's how it was intended to be with Ron Perlman showing he hasn't got what it takes anymore and needs to change his life and add some company to the lonely empty nights. But that's not what you wanted or came for, so your the problem and not the film.
In my opinion, remember I'm entitled to that, it had good performances from Mr. Perlman, and the rest of the cast. It grew as the film unfolded and was never intended to be Bourne, if you want Bourne then watch Bourne.
No CGI, no incredible car chases with 50 or 60 police cars and a team of motor cycles chasing a 1000cc Citroen through the streets, and never getting close. It was more subtle than that and all the better for it.
If you like to see a different and sometimes quite touching portrayal of the ageing hitman and tired carer who find each other but still have to battle to get together then it "Could work for You". -
zuzuspetals92716 January 2021I feel for the generation that grew up watching the comic book movies. It has destroyed their sense of pacing, maturity and style.
Not everything has to be blown up to smithereens every 10 minutes. Sometimes there is beauty in what is not said, or rather, inferred. Not everything has to be explained to the morons in the dark wondering what they just wandered into at their local cineplex.
This is not a unique story: the aging gun-for-hire, out to do one last gig, and retire. Ron Perlman plays this to smoldering perfection. This one is a slow burn, the boil taking its time before it gets too hot to touch.
These are the kinds of films that I revel in and marvel at how this cinematic style just may be gone forever. Perlman plays Asher, the aging prizefighter, wounded, aching, exhausted. He ponders his life over many glasses of wine and his choices. Trust no one. Don't let anyone in. Take the money, do the job, and then....what? Retire? Yes, a unique skillset but what does one do with such a unique skillset once one retires from the life.
As he makes his way to the next kill, he staggers in a hallway, dizzy, falls against a door that is opened by a stranger who lets him in. And changes his life.
It's interesting to me how the lost and lonely people seem to attract others with the same archetype.
Richard Dreyfuss makes an appearance. Not too believable, I'm afraid. Famke Janssen is completely believable as Sophie. Character actor Ned Eisenberg is also completely believable, but then again, he always is. And a completely unrecognizable Jacqueline Bisset, as the aging mother with dementia.
Yeah, there were some holes and yeah, it's a bit predictable but enjoyable and immensely entertaining nonetheless. Loved the ending, as well. -
gebara_jean_paul27 February 2019A very slow movie...boring not the kind of action movie..very disappointed...one good point for good choice for choosing the actors...
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Something like a Cassavetes' Killing of a Chinese bookie with the hip coolness of a Jean-pierre melville noir.
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nogodnomasters17 December 2018Ash (Ron Perlman) is an old-school hitman. He has lost a step to age, booze, Parliaments, loneliness, and few pieces of lead still lodged in his back. He gets his orders from Richard Dreyfuss via a Jewish Cleaning business. He accidentally befriends Famke Janssen who has issues with her mother.
At about halfway through the film the hunter becomes the hunted.
It is a decent film for Perlman. It is a great film if you enjoy watching Perlman polish and tie his shoes. (A device they used to show he is old school, but they only had to show it once.) Marina (Marta Milans) should have initially worn a blonde wig, as Asians prefer blondes. She would have removed it once Perlman entered the picture. It would have made a better scene.
Guide: F-word. Implied sex. No nudity.