Fix: (British) Action Comedy
Platform: Netflix
Netflix Summary:
Unable to kill his latest target, Rose, veteran hitman Victor winds up hanging out with her and an unexpected sidekick who thinks Victor is a detective. Meanwhile, he deals with both his overbearing mother and the angry client who wants Rose dead.
FYA Summary:
Assassin Victor is very good at his job—until, that is, he is tasked with killing Rose, a small-time crook who gets herself in too deep with some not-so-nice individuals. A series of unfortunate events and confusiont that verges on the slapstick leads Rose to hire Victor as her personal bodyguard, and “wrong place, wrong time” guy Tony to become an unwitting sidekick.
Familiar Faces:
Bill Nighy as Victor Maynard
Bill Nighy is always awesome, whether he’s playing a tentacle-faced creature or a total stick-in-the-mud. (He plays the latter in Wild Target, in case that wasn’t clear.) The role is familiar, but satisfying, and surprisingly sweet.
Emily Blunt as Rose
Emily is so pleasantly good at being silly; I’m always glad to be reminded that she’s more than just a pretty face. The character of Rose can be both smart and a total dingbat, and Emily does both well.
Rupert Grint as Tony
Rupert plays a bit of a bumbling sidekick-type character, which he’s quite good at. He’s also nekkid in a bathtub—twice.
Rupert Everett as Ferguson
Rupert doesn’t have a huge role in the film, but does well at playing a shady businessman.
Martin Freeman as Hector Dixon
Martin plays a competitor assassin of Victor’s—with the most HI-LARIOUS fake teeth I’ve ever seen. I laughed every time they (yes, “they”—they’re hilarious enough to have a personality) came on screen.
Gregor Fisher as Mike
Gregor, as he is apt to frequently do, also plays a sidekick sort. He’s a little more action-oriented in this movie than, say, Love Actually, but still perfect for the role.
Eileen Atkins as Louisa Maynard
Eileen plays Victor’s mother, who quite possibly was an assassin herself (or just spent a lot of time around them). She plays the sometimes disappointed, always over-protective British mum to a tee.
Couch-Sharing Capability: Medium
If you and your friends are in the mood for a silly movie filled with some of the best British actors around, then Wild Target is an excellent pick. The plot isn’t super involved, however, so if you find yourselves chatting about how Ron Weasley actually turned out pretty hot (but not as hot as Matt Lewis, obvs) you’re not going to miss much.
Recommended Level of Inebriation: Viewer’s Choice
I didn’t drink while watching, and I found the movie amusing. I can imagine that introducing alcohol into the viewing, however, might make it even more funny … or just painfully dull? It could go either way, so you might not want to chance it.
Use of Your Streaming Subscription: Good
Wild Target is the kind of movie that I would have probably never run across had it not been for Netflix’s recommendation. I giggled, I “awwww”-ed, I was pleasantly entertained by the entire thing.
