Killer

 (1994)

aka: Bulletproof Heart

Killer (1994), aka Bulletproof Heart, stars Anthony LaPaglia as a burned-out hit man who is nearly forced to do his second hit of the day against his wishes. Seems his usual boss had a thing with a woman who is into him for $650K, and he likes her too much to kill her himself.

Now for the real kicker -- she wants to be whacked.  In fact, she has threatened to go to the DA with damaging evidence against the crime boss if he doesn't have her hit. 

Throw in Peter Boyle as LaPaglia's inept wannabe partner, and the set-up is complete.

The victim ends up being Mimi Rogers who, in exchange for his promise to make her death painless, gives him the screwing of his life. It isn't just sex, as she ties him to the bed, slaps him around, scratches his chest, etc, until he is hard as a rock. This is not something he is used to, and he is grateful. He then discovers that she does indeed want to be killed. The whole concept of a willing victim, especially one he is falling for, is too much for LaPaglia.

The look of the film is dark, which matches the overall tone well, but makes it a little hard to see. Nonetheless, I must admit that it held my attention to the end, despite being very talky with nearly no action.

 

Our Grade:

If you are not familiar with our grading system, you need to read the explanation, because the grading is not linear. For example, by our definition, a C is solid and a C+ is a VERY good movie. There are very few Bs and As. Based on our descriptive system, this film is a:

C

Worth a watch if your kind of material.

DVD Info

This is a region free DVD in PAL format.  It will, of course, work in Europe on any hardware configuration. Because it is region-free, you will be able to play it on a computer DVD drive anywhere. Because it is PAL, it may or may not work with a free-standing American DVD player and an American TV. Most US DVD players automatically convert PAL to NTSC for non coded pal discs like this. SONY units or combo VHS units tend to be the ones that most commonly do not. At any rate, there is a tester which evaluates whether your player will play all-region pal DVDs. Or consult the seller linked from the image below.

THE CRITICS AND ACADEMIES

THE BOX OFFICE

Box Office Mojo. It was shown in only nine theaters in the entire USA, grossing $297,000.

NUDITY REPORT

• Topless nudity from Mimi Rogers