Weekend Viewing: The Hit
January 18, 2014 by Nico Jacobsen Video
—01. Directed by Stephen Frears.
Words
Stephen Frears has had a long and unpredictable run as a filmmaker. He's tried his hand at nearly every genre at this point, and while I'm not crazy about everything he's done, there is an undeniable artistry to each frame of each film. He made a significant splash last year with his new drama Philomena, but it was his early films such as My Beautiful Laundrette, Prick Up Your Ears, and this film, The Hit, that will forever be his legacy. The grittiness in this picture is not something that can be faked. You get pulled so effortlessly into the twisted crime tale due to the sheer sense of reality the film posses. Each character is somehow likable, even though they are seemingly bad people; something that I've definitely noticed to be true of real world criminals. In summary, this is a masterclass gangster film, one I've found has been criminally overlooked by the Scarface crowd.
