It is about a troubled Hit-man named Mick. He lives in New York and has a steady employer named George. (Played by Peter Boyle.) Mick (Anthony LaPaglia) is disillusioned about life and death. He no longer sees that life and death make much difference. It doesn't matter if one person, more or less, will be gone. He is a sort of controlled melt-down of a person. Then, when he is on the verge of losing it, his life changes. George, his boss, comes to him with an emergency hit. It has to be done before dawn.
It seems that a lady named Fiona (Mimi Rogers) owes some heavy hitters over $500,000. That is not the worst of her transgressions, however. She knows a lot of dirt on a lot of guys. What sort of dirt? Well, this is a 'G' rated blog. Yeah, it is like that. Fiona threatens to expose everything about these powerful men unless she gets her way.
So, you say, what does she want? She wants someone to kill her. Your next question would be the same as Mick's. Why does she want to die? Now we are getting down to brass tacks. Fiona is a wreck. Seemingly self controlled and together, as well as attractive, she hears voices in her head that torment her. At times she even goes psycho and then blacks out. She is under treatment by a rather pathetic shrink. She merely wants to be released from her burdens and welcomes Mick into her home with open arms.
Mick is messed up about life, himself. He is at first intrigued by his 'mark', then sympathetic, then falls in love with her. He offers to pay her debt. He finds out that he himself will take the big dirt nap if he fails to deliver on the 'contract'. Will he have the grit to finish a tough job? Will his fruitcake 'assistant' have to redeem himself by making the hit? (The assistant, named Archie, is a cool side-note to this film and is well-played by Matt Craven.)
When the woman wants a pic-nic in a graveyard at 3 A.M. as a last request, Archie is scared to death. Even the steely Mick freaks when he finds Fiona in a tomb, talking to her voices and weeping.
Oh, yeah, it is weird. But it is a 4.5 stars out of 5. Superbly acted and directed, with gripping scenes. Watch it some stormy night, with someone you trust. Ha, ha.
After my Falcons lost today, I could use a bulletproof heart, myself. I will persevere, and survive, and hopefully flourish, here at the author's green retreat.
I'm CE Wills.
P.S. I watched this film on EPIX. It appears that its original title was Killer.
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