- In turns quirky, brutal, and strangely charming, Stephen Frears's The Hit tells the story of a crime informant named Willie Parker (Terence Stamp) who is being driven to his death. And I'm not speaking figuratively, either — a pair of hired guns named Braddock (John Hurt) and Myron (Tim Roth) are literally driving Willie across Spain toward France, where Willie's former boss (Lennie Peters) is presumably waiting, having promised ten years earlier that "We'll Meet Again." As terrifying as that prospect should be, Willie spends the journey smiling, whistling, and taking in the scenery while Braddock and Myron handle the worrying. Well, an unfortunate Australian named Harry (Bill Hunter) worries, too, as does his young girlfriend Maggie (Laura del Sol), who finds herself kidnapped right along with Willie.
- As their trip progresses, the audience may well begin to wonder, along with Braddock and Myron, why Willie seems so relaxed. Does he have an escape plan or a death wish? Is he counting on Braddock and Myron turning against each other before they reach the border? Was he serious when he said that he spent the last ten years getting used to the idea of dying? He can recite Death Be Not Proud by heart, but his playful mannerisms suggest some alternative scheme. In the meantime, Braddock's deadpan countenance slowly deteriorates while Myron's troublesome temper keeps getting them into worse and worse trouble. The only person successfully fighting against fate is Maggie, who bites and kicks her way to the closest thing the film has to a happy ending.
- The gorgeous Spanish settings aside, The Hit feels like a lost Jim Thompson story, which is only appropriate since Frears would later deliver a great adaptation of The Grifters. As with all of the good Thompson novels, the plot is really just a vehicle for competing deranged psychologies that occasionally erupt into unexpected violence. All of the actors deliver excellent performances, none more so than Stamp, whose constant grinning suggests hidden depths, whether or not they actually exist. My only regret is that the compelling Fernando Rey is relegated to the sidelines as a mostly silent policeman who is perpetually a few steps behind, but that's just one of many things about The Hit that I absolutely did not expect.
- The title song is by Eric Clapton and Roger Waters.
- This was Tim Roth's debut film.
