The Hit List

Movie / Show Details

Amazon.com

Strangers on a Train receives a post-Tarantino polish in this diverting action movie about the perils of not knowing when to say when. Following a legendarily bad day at the office, a harried engineer (Cole Hauser) lets it all hang out at a bar. Before long, his airing of grievances attracts the attention of a gravel-voiced stranger (Cuba Gooding Jr., wearing what appears to be Tom Cruise’s exact suit from Collateral), who suggests that he make a numbered list of the people who’ve done him wrong. As the names on the list begin to suffer a slew of mysterious accidents, Hauser begins to suspect that his new friend has an agenda of his own. Although the script stumbles on occasion (particularly when dealing with Gooding’s sudden transformation from Zen assassin to rampaging Terminator), director William Kaufman certainly knows how to get maximum bang out of his limited bucks, staging a number of well-crafted action scenes that steadily ramp up to an explosively squib-happy finale. Occasional logic gaps aside, this stands as an above-par example of the modern B movie, with a number of non-formulaic surprises, including a nicely milquetoast performance from the usually villainous Hauser, and a wonderfully garish 007-inspired opening credit sequence. –Andrew Wright

Product Description

A down-on-his-luck businessman races against time to save the people he unwittingly marked as targets for a professional hit man.