Who's in It: Ben Kingsley, Téa Leoni, Luke Wilson
The Basics: What if, like Ben Kingsley's character in this movie, you were a professional hit man and and an alcoholic? Wouldn't you need to clean up and get sober in order to do your job more efficiently? Wouldn't it be good for you to make amends to all the people you killed in a sloppy way? Wouldn't that be wacky and ironic?
What's the Deal? Once you get its sole joke (which to be — drunk or murderous?) then you've seen all it has to offer. The rest is a romantic-comedy-meets-the-Mob story that will seem instantly familiar to anyone who's ever seen a romantic comedy or a Mob story (aka everyone).
What Saves It: Kingsley makes whatever material he's been given work on at least some level. He's one of the few guys you could buy as both a trained assassin and Gandhi. And, weirdly enough, though I've never given Leoni much more than a dismissive, passing thought, she's really on her game here, keeping her character dark and downbeat. You can tell she's just happy not to be playing "the Wife."
Best Scenes: A falling-in-love montage that involves Kingsley teaching Leoni how to kill people in various ways. The part where he works his 12-step program, "making amends" to the families of people he's murdered in a less-than-professional way by sending them gift certificates.
Dear Luke Wilson Fans, You'll Be Disappointed: As the gay AA sponsor to Kingsley, he's got barely anything to do but stand around and look either bemused or somewhat concerned.