Director: Jonathan Lynn
Screenplay: Lucinda Coxon, Pierre Salvadori
Producers: Martin Pope, Michael Rose,
Starring: Bill Nighy, Emily Blunt, Rupert Grint, Rupert Everett, Martin Freeman
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Running time: 98 min.

(3.5/5)

I sometimes wonder what attracts actors to certain projects. On some occasions the reasons are obvious: a big paycheque, a movie that will attract lots of eyeballs, Oscar contenders, juicy roles – but when a movie like Jonathan Lynn’s Wild Target attracts the likes of Bill Nighy and Emily Blunt, the thought re-emerges.

Admittedly, Nighy, as awesome as he is, has a (recent) track record of less than stellar work, case in point are Underworld (one, two and three) and G-Force, but having him and Blunt together here was enough to get my attention. Even if it was only out of mild curiosity at the train wreck.

I’m happy to report that Wild Target isn’t nearly as bad as the trailer and synopsis suggested though it does feel like a script that was pulled out of 1973 (in reality 1993), given a mild updating and shot with some recognizable names.

Blunt plays Rose, a small time con artist who gets in over her head when an art forgery sale goes wrong. Ferguson (Rupert Everett in yet another comedic side role – I can’t remember the days he did anything besides these), the purchaser, figures out it’s a fake and hires Victor (Nighy), the best assassin in the country, to take her out but he finds himself drawn to Rose and botches the job. Ferguson then hires Hector (Martin Freeman) to take them both out but by this point, Rose has hired Victor to provide around the clock protection. Mixed into the equation is Tony (Rupert Grint) who Victor takes under his wing as his protégé.

Phew! Now that you know the basics of what’s going on here and who all is involved, and as you can see there are quite a number of recognizable names at play here, onto the real goods and they are this: that despite the fact that this is a predictable, cookie cutter story of con jobs gone wrong, it still – surprisingly considering how predictable it is – manages to pull out a few laughs. Mind you, they’re not hearty laughs but more chuckles and head-nod-with-a-sly-smile variety of laughs. This is the kind of forgettable Saturday afternoon fare I watch when flipping the TV channels or, as the case is now, navigating through the “New Arrivals” on Netflix.

There’s nothing particularly memorable here. It’s proficient filmmaking and a mediocre script that is elevated to something special by the actors involved. By far the most memorable is Blunt who adds dimension to Rose, a largely uninteresting bundle of contradictions. One thing I do love about Wild Target is that it feels like a movie from a different time, featuring the type of slapstick things-are-always-getting-worse comedy I tend to associate (rightly or wrongly I don’t know) with the Brits even though this is adapted from a French film.

Wild Target isn’t bad it’s just mediocre, the thing you watch today and forget about until the next time you see it on TV (but still better than a lot of real crap that lands on DVD). That’s not to say it’s not worth your time, I thoroughly enjoyed watching it and don’t regret having invested the time, but I also wouldn’t recommend going through great lengths to see it. I might throw it into the DVD player the next time we need family friendly viewing but aside from a few fun gags (I particularly love Rose’s habit of lifting everything that isn’t glued or nailed down) it doesn’t offer up anything worth writing home about but it’s still an entertaining little romp. And honestly, who doesn’t love a little fill of Emily Blunt (playing up the charm I might add)? Yeah – thought so.

Wild Target is available on DVD and Blu-ray on February 8th.

DVD Extras: A short interview with Emily Bunt on everything from what attracted her to the character to what it was like to shoot the film. A fun extra, I just whish it was longer!