The Job (2003) from Johnny Web (Uncle Scoopy; Greg Wroblewski)

Daryl Hannah, there is good news and bad news.

First the good news: you're now getting some very cool leading parts.

The bad news: they are in home movies.

Oh, I'm being mean. The Job isn't a home movie, but rather a straight-to-vid. It is a competently filmed, but totally unappealing story about a female hit woman who softens up when she gets pregnant at the same time she's asked to kill another pregnant woman.

It's more or less a vacuous bloodbath. Various unlikable people hunt each other down and shoot one another.

NUDITY REPORT

Daryl Hannah removes her top, but tries very hard to keep her breasts away from the camera. The only appearance of her nipple occurs while her breasts are squashed against her knees in a medium-long shot.

DVD info from Amazon

  • although it has no meaningful features, the DVD transfer of the film is excellent. 1.85: 1 widescreen anamorphic.

Daryl did OK in the movie, but she's playing someone who has almost completely lost her ability for normal emotional responses, so pretty much anyone could have handled the part.

Alex Rocco, Brad Renfro and Dominique Swain round out the uninspired cast, all of them overacting enough to make up for Hannah's stylized numbness.

The Critics Vote ...

  • no major reviews online

The People Vote ...

The meaning of the IMDb score: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence equivalent to about three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, comparable to approximately two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, equivalent to about a two star rating from the critics, or a C- from our system. Films rated below five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film - this score is roughly equivalent to one and a half stars from the critics or a D on our scale. (Possibly even less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.

My own guideline: A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre. B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. C means it will only appeal to genre addicts, and has no crossover appeal. (C+ means it has no crossover appeal, but will be considered excellent by genre fans, while C- indicates that it we found it to be a poor movie although genre addicts find it watchable). D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre. F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well. Any film rated C- or better is recommended for fans of that type of film. Any film rated B- or better is recommended for just about anyone. We don't score films below C- that often, because we like movies and we think that most of them have at least a solid niche audience. Now that you know that, you should have serious reservations about any movie below C-.

Based on this description, this is a C-. It is not incompetent, but neither is it engaging. I understand why it went STV after a debut at Cannes.

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