The gunman
Starring: Sean Penn, Idris Elba, Ray Winstone, Mark Rylance
Rated: 4/10
From the very start, you expect a nail-biting action film with the best men on the job. But 15 minutes to the movie, one cannot understand whether this is a love triangle movie or an edge of the seat action-thriller. For Sean Penn fans, this will be an absolute treat with the 56-year-old actor dropping his shirt at the drop of a hat. But that’s not what The Gunman is supposed to be about.
When Penn shoots the Congolese Mining Minister and escapes into oblivion, the audiences are hooked to some real world action. But the moment his girlfriend and best friend come into the picture, the steam is lost.
Director Daniel lee appears that he is lost in this middle path. He seems to be torn between the romantic Penn or the action icon Penn. The end result is a mixed bag of neither here nor there.
In a week of not so exciting Bollywood releases, one was hoping for real dhamaka but this movie proves to be a damp squib. Critics the world over have criticed lee for such a half-baked film that hinges on nothing at all.
It’s not as if there is no storyline. There is one very mundane goon-chasing-man trail but the film fails to capitalise on any of that. Penn looks good and even sexy with his biceps but he fails to convince as a numero uno hitman. All those looking for some action, look elsewhere.