Wild Target (2010)
Average Rating: 4.9/10
Reviews Counted: 53
Fresh: 17 | Rotten: 36
An ineptly staged farce that dishonors the original film and squanders the comedic potential of its fine actors.
Average Rating: 4.7/10
Critic Reviews: 15
Fresh: 3 | Rotten: 12
An ineptly staged farce that dishonors the original film and squanders the comedic potential of its fine actors.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.3/5
User Ratings: 26,486
My Rating
Movie Info
A gorgeous con artist sells a fake painting to a powerful gangster and discovers that crime doesn't pay when her unsatisfied customer hires Europe's top assassin to take her out. But the moment Victor (Bill Nighy) gets Rose (Emily Blunt) in his crosshairs, he hesitates. The situation grows tense when Victor vows to protect the sprightly scammer rather than rubbing her out, and finds himself the unwitting mentor to a young protégée. Before long, all three are on the run from Europe's second-best
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Cast
-
Emily Blunt
Rose -
Bill Nighy
Victor Maynard -
Rupert Grint
Tony -
Rupert Everett
Ferguson -
Martin Freeman
Dixon -
Eileen Atkins
Mother -
Gregor Fisher
Mike -
Geoff Bell
Fabian -
Rory Kinnear
Gerry -
Duncan Duff
Jeweller -
Graham Seed
Appraiser -
James O'Dee
Barney -
George Rainsford
Waiter -
Alexis Rodney
First Hotel Receptionis... -
Sia Berkeley
Smart Hotel Receptinist -
Jenny Crosdale
Hotel Maid -
Philip Battley
Hotel Barman -
Neil D'Souza
Garage Attendant -
Adrian Schiller
Forger -
Jonathan Lynn
Voice of Parrot
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Wild Target Trailer & Photos
All Critics (53) | Top Critics (15) | Fresh (18) | Rotten (36) | DVD (4)
The film has to fly by its wits -- and its witty lines -- and by the charm of its stars. This it does, just barely.
Top CriticIt's never a good idea to cast Bill Nighy as a buttoned-down hit man.
Practically a text book in how ugly things can get when you don't have the right, light touch for this sort of thing.
There have been a lot of black comedies about assassins lately -- there have been a few just this year -- but Wild Target may be the first one to contain genuine laughs.
An eccentric little comic thriller filled with enough laughs that I was mostly willing to overlook the fact that it makes virtually no sense as a thriller.
All of this busyness drains away the film's charm, turning what might have been a naughty and whimsical frolic into something glib, hectic and sour.
Two delightful stars nudge Wild Target into sleeper territory - but only by a few inches.
Director Lynn (My Cousin Vinny), who's displayed his expertise at mixing murder and silly mayhem on both continents, exhibits his stylized flair for pathological lunacy and flaky elegance. Even as the story occasionally feels overwrought and recycled.
...mindless entertainment in a refined style.
"Wild Target" bears all the hallmarks of [director Jonathan] Lynn's best films, despite being, even at a tidy 90 minutes, a bit too long.
Wild Target is the sort of madcap comedy that breaks a sweat trying to generate a steady stream of laughs, but ... the film only works in fits and starts.
"Wild Target" has fast, quippy dialogue and exactly the right actors to drive it home.
When the various elements all fizzle, all we're left with is some likable actors trying their best to save a fading film.
Movies hardly ever make me laugh out loud, but this one did, more than once, with its unpredictable twists... and unexpected punchlines growing out of the deliciously twisted characters.
Snappy, sarcastic, implausible caper that looses almost all momentum 1 hour in. Also, how do you feel about Bill Nighy and Emily Blunt making out? If you just threw up in your mouth a little, you might wanna avoid this.
Saucy, scattershot, screwball farce.
It all collapses inward, foundering on its own improbabilities.
Screenwriter Lucinda Coxon has clearly never met a corny complication she didn't like, and Wild Target becomes riddled with irksomely madcap happenings by the final act.
Rarely in a British comedy have so many richly talented actors laboured so long in search of a coherent plot, plausible characters and even a modicum of humour.
If not better than the French original, this re-make is equally good and equally funny.
The film is directed with a surprising lack of comic spark by Jonathan Lynn.
Bill Nighy nabs most of the laughs with his suave, sarcastic, sophisticated character.
With an interesting premise and a capable cast, it's a shame the result is such a dead horse.
Audience Reviews for Wild Target
There isn't much to this film, but it's fun to watch Bill Nighy, who can make reading the phone book interesting. I also liked Martin Freeman who shows off a set of fake teeth like a badge of honor.
Overall, don't go to this film if you're seeking substance or good adventure sequences, but if you're a fan of Nighy, then you'll be relatively satisfied.
Super Reviewer
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- Mother: A Barrette for your seventh birthday. A Barrette the pistol of princes. No boy could have assed for more.
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- Rose: This hideous old bat in a wheelchair, she just tried to kill me, she had a knife this big! I swear!
- Tony: It was horrible!
- Rose: It's true!
- Victor Maynard: Mother!
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- Tony: [toMike] Sorry, I'm going to give it [the gun] to him. He's got a tie on.
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- Tony: [to Dixon] Sorry, I'm going yo give it [the gun] to him. He's got a tie on.
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- Ferguson: My dear, I'm not a gangster. But I was in real estate for twenty years. I stop at nothing.
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- Tony: Has anyone seen the cat?
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Foreign Titles
- Petits meurtres à l'Anglaise (FR)
I switched it off 40 minutes in. I get the impression she was heading for a romance with the 52 year old hitman, which gives me the creeps.