Headshot (2011)

Stylish but barely mediocre overall

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

On a scale of -10 to 10, I'd give this a -3.Splitting the movie into two timelines ruins it, it's very difficult to tell which timeline is being shown. I got as far as when he gets in the car with the SAME GIRL, and then it breaks down and they have a gun battle in the woods. Awful. Completely suspend your reality for this one, classic infinite ammo gun with NO EAR PROTECTION. How did they find him in the woods? I've been in the woods, you can hear a squirrel miles away and it sounds like a freaking bear. They always attack him with a poorly placed shot. Why not get closer and then shoot him? Also, when he's captured, how the hell did he cut himself out? And nobody noticed? LAME. That dude did some bdsm to him as "torture" hahaha... Once the bolt cutters came out it would've been a few weeks of misery, spilling his guts (literally and figuratively) and then death.It could have been a great flick. Beating the lawyer to death with the folding chair was awesome. But man, they worked hard to ruin it.

I find it sometimes hard to get into foreign films for the simple reasons of the language barrier and typically low production values. Pen-Ek Ratanaruang's thriller Headhshot is a rare exception. Though at times the photography was too dark to see clearly what was going on, on the whole I found this film to be easy enough to follow and engaging enough to keep me glued to the screen.Tul (Nopachai Chaiyanam) is one of the last honest cops struggling with the frustration of being one man against an insurmountable war on drugs. After a major bust involving the brother of a highly placed politician Tul is offered a bribe to lose the evidence and drop the case. After he turns down a cash offer he is set up. He meets Joy (Chanokporn Sayoungkul) in a parking garage and strikes up a relationship. Now, it might be mentioned here that this seemed a little suspicious to me from the start, since Joy is this smoking hot beauty and Tul is...well, not very handsome...at all. But who knows, maybe Thai chicks dig that sort. Anyway, after the set-up and the subsequent fall out Tul goes ballistic. He is framed and sent to prison where he is visited by Mr. Demon, a man who offers him a chance to get out of prison if Tul will become their "Special Assassin". There's no telling what the budget on this film was but I have to say this, whatever it was it was obviously sufficient because everything about this film was excellent. The two actresses in the film, Sayoungkul and Sirin Horwang, were not only incredibly beautiful, they were totally professional. There was no point where they weren't completely believable. How many American actresses can you say that about. In fact, everyone in the film was a fine actor. The script was tight and witty. There was enough action to keep it going without becoming mundane. And even in the action scenes I never got the sense of the all-too-obvious shakycam that plague so many wannabe American directors these days.All in all it was an excellent movie.

Is that what you are looking for? Then look no further. Unless of course you want recognizable faces (e.g. American Actors) in your movies. Not judging just stating what you can expect. If you're here just for the movie(s), then this will be a trip. From the cinematography, the storytelling, everything screams Style.And fortunately it is not over substance. Even though there is not a big story here, it is more than sufficient to drive the movie forward. And to keep you guessing where this is going. There is violence and even nudity, just so you know. But it's not "headless" (sorry for the pun). It actually does literally turn things upside down ... Something that really is a nice touch

As soon as I learn about this movie, immediately I remembered "Memento" (2000), a movie I never could figure out if I like or dislike. This time with "Headshot", a cop turned into a hit man, I got that old feeling, when a crime movie doesn't need to move at fast pace, or big arguments, but a real comprehension of his characters, and that is what this movie offers, it builds up little by little to the point that I felt as if I knew "Tul" in real life. Unfortunately I predicted two of the most important elements of the movie. I could complain about the ending, but I won't, because it doesn't matter who did the final deed, we are just told that when you are good but play for the bad, there's no redemption, sometimes just a place to hide. On this review you won't find any spoiler watched and judge yourself, I give it six out of ten because the ending fill on the inadequacies of the film, as always, this is a film just for cinephiles.