All Critics (53)
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Top Critics (13)
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Fresh (18)
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DVD (3)
The film has to fly by its wits -- and its witty lines -- and by the charm of its stars. This it does, just barely.
It'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.
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