Dir. John Bradshaw, 2003, USA, 96 mins
Cast:
Neil Morrissey, Donnie Wahlberg, Adrian Dunbar, Michael Rapaport, Claire Forlani, Pete Postlethwaite
Triggermen brings together again John Bradshaw (Director), Tony Johnston (Writer) and John Gillespie (Executive Producer) who had all worked previously on the thriller 'Full Disclosure'. It also reunites drama school buddies Neil Morrissey and Adrian Dunbar.
Two British con artists, Andy and Pete (Dunbar and Morrissey), are in Chicago, skint and pondering on what they should do next. Pete thinks he can sort it out, and does so by stealing a briefcase stashed with cash and a key to a hotel room.
When they're mistaken for hitmen by the crime boss Franco D'Amico (Di Bianco), who's trying to take out rival mob boss Ben Cutler (Postlethwaite), instead of putting him straight, they string him along to swindle as much money as they can before they head back to England. Waiting there is Andy's girlfriend Penny (Plummer) who has something important tell him. With Andy's inability to say when he'll be coming home, she takes matters into her own hands.
Meanwhile, the real hitmen, Terry and Tommy (Wahlberg and Rapaport), are waiting to hear from D'Amico. While doing so Tommy romances a mysterious woman (Forlani) - the daughter of the man he's been hired to kill. And when Tommy and Terry learn that their hit job has been hijacked from them, things get very tricky for Andy and Pete.
Given the precedent that these two films set, being likened to a comedy thriller in the style of Lock Stock And Two Smoking Barrels and Pulp Fiction is a pretty big claim to make. Unfortunately, in the case of Triggermen, it is somewhat misleading. Yes it has the guns, it has the gal, it has the gangsters, but, it hasn't got the high-octane action or blood-spillage that you would expect from the genre. And sadly, it lacks the Tarantino/Ritchie sophistication.
Director Bradshaw borrows their trait cinematic devices: the 360 degree camera spin; speeding up and slowing down sequences. But he overuses them so instead of crediting his film with having some stylistic kudos, it looks like a poor imitation. The film is also littered with an endless stream of songs that reference practically every scene which eventually grates on your nerves instead of enhancing your experience.
The script doesn't help matters either. Writer Johnston describes it as a comedy thriller. Yet it is it devoid of any laugh-out-loud comedy or real thrilling drama. The script is heavily farcical. As the events in the film unfold, it is a case of one damn thing happening after the next. But, coupled with Bradshaw's sluggish direction, scenes are dragged out for far too long. As a thriller, it doesn't really work. There's no build up of tension, no fast-moving action that leaves you gripping the seat. Things only get vaguely interesting in the last twenty minutes, with the arrival of Penny, when the pace and the action, hots up.
However, there are some things to recommend it. The cast list reads like a who's who of fine acting. Plummer brings her idiosyncratic edge to her Penny. Back in England Penny may look and sound like a woman on the verge of a breakdown. But she sneaks into the main action in Chicago and quietly steals the film. (Just have to get past her northern accent!) The part was originally earmarked for Nicole Appleton and it would be hard to imagine her doing a better job. Postlethwaite is always good value for money and Dunbar, at times, is very funny. Morrissey is problematic. He's a man 'behaving badly' with a garrotte. But whereas Vinnie Jones was able to portray the likable rogue with a psychotic edge in Lock Stock, Morrissey just isn't able to pull it off. But he's such a well loved actor, you could overlook this.
So, perhaps the best way to view Triggermen is rather than it being a full-on gangster film with comedy moments, it's more of comedy with some gangsters in it. And should you require some respite from the turkey, sprouts and family, it'll easily kill a couple of hours on Boxing Day.
Sandi Chaitram
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