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Production began shooting in London on 16 September 2008, with [[Bill Nighy]], [[Emily Blunt]], [[Rupert Grint]] and [[Eileen Atkins]] heading the cast.<ref name="lynn"/> Filming also took place on the [[Isle of Man]].<ref name="lynn"/>
Production began shooting in London on 16 September 2008, with [[Bill Nighy]], [[Emily Blunt]], [[Rupert Grint]] and [[Eileen Atkins]] heading the cast.<ref name="lynn"/> Filming also took place on the [[Isle of Man]].<ref name="lynn"/>


==Premise==
==Story==
Victor Maynard ([[Bill Nighy]]) is an expert and effective assassin living a lonely life in accordance with his family's business as Victor follows a family line of professional assassins, he completes his assignments quickly and without remorse. One afternoon, after killing one of his targets, he hesitates in killing his [[parrot]] pet Roger and instead takes him as a gift to his mother Louisa ([[Eileen Atkins]]) a formidable woman who was until recently Victor's roommate as well. In celebration of his 53rd birthday, she gives him a leather bound book with newspaper clippings of each of his kills from his first to his most recent, leaving pages for future hits to be included.
''Wild Target'' is a comedy about uptight Victor Maynard ([[Bill Nighy]]), a middle-aged, solitary assassin, who lives to please his formidable mother Louisa ([[Eileen Atkins]]), despite his own peerless reputation for lethal efficiency. His professional routine is interrupted when he finds himself drawn to one of his intended victims, Rose ([[Emily Blunt]]).


Rose is an average girl with a talent for thievery. Her most recent theft involving selling a fake work of Rembrandt's art with the help of one of her friends she manages to swindle 900,000 in British Pounds out of Ferguson ([[Rupert Everett]]) who soon discovers the swap after she leaves and decides to hire the best hitman, Victor Maynard. Victor takes the case and immediately tracks Rose down, missing several opportunities of killing her she ends up going to her home, but sleeps with the front doorman eliminating his opportunity of killing her that night. The following morning as she leaves, he has the opportunity to kill her but hesitates. Louisa is upset by this missed target and suggests Victor apologize to his employer and offer to do the hit for free, when he tracks Rose down to a parking garage where he sees another hitman ready to kill her, he takes the preimptive shot, killing the other assassin. He and Rose get into her car only to be forced out again by another assassin in the back seat of her Mini. He knocks Victor's gun away and lines them up on the wall to be shot and killed, but instead the assassin is shot by Tony ([[Rupert Grint]]) who had picked up Victor's gun. Saying it was his first time shooting, he impresses Victor enough to consider a protoge. But Tony is sent home and Victor and Rose flee, the assassin starts firing at them and they nearly run over Tony on his way out of the garage, forcing him to join the ride. Rose offers Victor his price of 30,000 pounds a week for her protection as she is under the assumption he is merely a [[private detective]]. They travel to a luxury hotel where they can lie low, but inadvertently end up on the same floor as Ferguson, after several close calls Mike ([[Gregor Fisher]]), who is also Ferguson's bodyguard discovers they are staying there when he spots a pair of boots that Rose had stolen from his dead partner. Ferguson also hires Dixon ([[Martin Freeman]]) to kill Rose and Maynard as Dixon is the second most proficient assassin on the hitmans' list (second only to Maynard himself). Tony is attacked in the bathroom and nearly drowned in the bathtub by Mike, but he turns the tables and accidentally shoots Mike's ear off before the three of them escape the hotel. Ferguson and Mike pursue them in a high speed chase through the streets of London until Mike loses control and crashes, sending the pair to the hospital.
He spares her life, unexpectedly acquiring a young apprentice in the process, Tony ([[Rupert Grint]]). Believing Victor to be a private detective, his two new companions tag along, while he attempts to thwart the murderous attentions of his unhappy client ([[Rupert Everett]]).

They travel to Maynard's home, a quaint farm far in the country and Maynard takes Tony as his apprentice in "private detective" work. One night, Rose is attacked by Louisa who had come back to the house to finish what her son had started, he eventually talks her down and after she leaves, the three of them work on becoming friends. Rose and Tony help Victor celebrate his first birthday with friends, and after a brief period of sexual confusion between Tony and Maynard, Victor falls in love with and sleeps with Rose. Afterward his attitude becomes more cheerful, Victor peels off the plastic coverings on all of his furniture and opens up the house, meanwhile Rose stumbles upon the leather book that Victor's mother gave him and learns that she was actually his target for assassination. She storms out of the house, not trusting Tony's intentions either, and eventually goes back to the museum only to find her friend dead and Dixon and his assistant Fabian ([[Geoff Bell]]) waiting for her. They quickly return to Victor's home, and Tony and Victor gain the upper hand when Louisa appears, killing Fabian. But pulling a [[1908 Broomhandle Mauser]] that had been originally given to Victor by his late father, Dixon fires at Victor, but it backfires, sending the barrel into his skull. Victor, Tony and Rose bury the pair in the back yard and return to their lives.

Three years later, Victor and Rose are married with a daughter and Tony has moved in with them. While Angel is playing in the yard one morning, Tony comes out asking where Victor's cat had gone off to, and all three look at the child who is patting soft dirt into the yard suggesting she killed and buried the cat.


==Cast==
==Cast==

Revision as of 19:08, 14 February 2011

Wild Target
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJonathan Lynn
Written byLucinda Coxon
Produced byMartin Pope
Michael Rose
StarringBill Nighy
Emily Blunt
Rupert Grint
Eileen Atkins
Martin Freeman
Rupert Everett
CinematographyDavid Johnson
Edited byMichael Parker
Music byMichael Price
Distributed byVue Entertainment
Release dates
United Kingdom
18 June, 2010
United States
29 October, 2010
(limited)
Running time
98 minutes
CountriesTemplate:Film UK
Template:Film France
LanguageEnglish
Budget$8 million[1]
Box office$1,505,395

Wild Target is a 2010 comedy film, directed by Jonathan Lynn.[2] It is based on the 1993 French film Cible Emouvante.[2] Lucinda Coxon wrote the screenplay,[2] and it was produced by Martin Pope and Michael Rose.[1]

Production began shooting in London on 16 September 2008, with Bill Nighy, Emily Blunt, Rupert Grint and Eileen Atkins heading the cast.[2] Filming also took place on the Isle of Man.[2]

Story

Victor Maynard (Bill Nighy) is an expert and effective assassin living a lonely life in accordance with his family's business as Victor follows a family line of professional assassins, he completes his assignments quickly and without remorse. One afternoon, after killing one of his targets, he hesitates in killing his parrot pet Roger and instead takes him as a gift to his mother Louisa (Eileen Atkins) a formidable woman who was until recently Victor's roommate as well. In celebration of his 53rd birthday, she gives him a leather bound book with newspaper clippings of each of his kills from his first to his most recent, leaving pages for future hits to be included.

Rose is an average girl with a talent for thievery. Her most recent theft involving selling a fake work of Rembrandt's art with the help of one of her friends she manages to swindle 900,000 in British Pounds out of Ferguson (Rupert Everett) who soon discovers the swap after she leaves and decides to hire the best hitman, Victor Maynard. Victor takes the case and immediately tracks Rose down, missing several opportunities of killing her she ends up going to her home, but sleeps with the front doorman eliminating his opportunity of killing her that night. The following morning as she leaves, he has the opportunity to kill her but hesitates. Louisa is upset by this missed target and suggests Victor apologize to his employer and offer to do the hit for free, when he tracks Rose down to a parking garage where he sees another hitman ready to kill her, he takes the preimptive shot, killing the other assassin. He and Rose get into her car only to be forced out again by another assassin in the back seat of her Mini. He knocks Victor's gun away and lines them up on the wall to be shot and killed, but instead the assassin is shot by Tony (Rupert Grint) who had picked up Victor's gun. Saying it was his first time shooting, he impresses Victor enough to consider a protoge. But Tony is sent home and Victor and Rose flee, the assassin starts firing at them and they nearly run over Tony on his way out of the garage, forcing him to join the ride. Rose offers Victor his price of 30,000 pounds a week for her protection as she is under the assumption he is merely a private detective. They travel to a luxury hotel where they can lie low, but inadvertently end up on the same floor as Ferguson, after several close calls Mike (Gregor Fisher), who is also Ferguson's bodyguard discovers they are staying there when he spots a pair of boots that Rose had stolen from his dead partner. Ferguson also hires Dixon (Martin Freeman) to kill Rose and Maynard as Dixon is the second most proficient assassin on the hitmans' list (second only to Maynard himself). Tony is attacked in the bathroom and nearly drowned in the bathtub by Mike, but he turns the tables and accidentally shoots Mike's ear off before the three of them escape the hotel. Ferguson and Mike pursue them in a high speed chase through the streets of London until Mike loses control and crashes, sending the pair to the hospital.

They travel to Maynard's home, a quaint farm far in the country and Maynard takes Tony as his apprentice in "private detective" work. One night, Rose is attacked by Louisa who had come back to the house to finish what her son had started, he eventually talks her down and after she leaves, the three of them work on becoming friends. Rose and Tony help Victor celebrate his first birthday with friends, and after a brief period of sexual confusion between Tony and Maynard, Victor falls in love with and sleeps with Rose. Afterward his attitude becomes more cheerful, Victor peels off the plastic coverings on all of his furniture and opens up the house, meanwhile Rose stumbles upon the leather book that Victor's mother gave him and learns that she was actually his target for assassination. She storms out of the house, not trusting Tony's intentions either, and eventually goes back to the museum only to find her friend dead and Dixon and his assistant Fabian (Geoff Bell) waiting for her. They quickly return to Victor's home, and Tony and Victor gain the upper hand when Louisa appears, killing Fabian. But pulling a 1908 Broomhandle Mauser that had been originally given to Victor by his late father, Dixon fires at Victor, but it backfires, sending the barrel into his skull. Victor, Tony and Rose bury the pair in the back yard and return to their lives.

Three years later, Victor and Rose are married with a daughter and Tony has moved in with them. While Angel is playing in the yard one morning, Tony comes out asking where Victor's cat had gone off to, and all three look at the child who is patting soft dirt into the yard suggesting she killed and buried the cat.

Cast

  • Bill Nighy as Victor Maynard: A middle aged hit man who is hired by Ferguson to kill Rose after she cons Ferguson out of £900,000. After missing an opportunity to shoot Rose, Ferguson sends his henchmen to do the deed. Victor kills one henchman and injures another when he is looking for Rose and, concealing his true profession, helps her escape with the help of nearby lay-about, Tony. He adopts Tony as his apprentice and Victor realizes he's fallen in love with Rose.
  • Emily Blunt as Rose: A bold con artist who oversteps the mark when she cons Ferguson out of £900,000 and fobs him off with a convincing copy of a Rembrandt self portrait. Realizing the danger she is in, she sticks with Victor and Tony in an attempt to escape her attempted assassination. Her mad-cap lifestyle takes a turn when she realizes her enjoyment of Victor's company.
  • Rupert Grint as Tony: A young man who witnesses Victor shooting Ferguson's bodyguard and decides to stick with Victor for safety. Victor employs him as an apprentice (with Tony thinking Victor is a private detective) and he soon realizes he has a 'killer instinct'.
  • Eileen Atkins as Louisa: Victor's formidable mother who, whilst impressed with his profession, is concerned as to what will happen to the family business.
  • Rupert Everett as Ferguson: A gangster who hires Victor to kill Rose.
  • Martin Freeman as Dixon: A sadistic assassin who plays second-fiddle to Victor Maynard. Whilst in awe of Victor, Dixon jumps at the opportunity given to him by Ferguson to dispose of the greatest hit-man known.
  • Gregor Fisher as Mike: Ferguson's bumbling henchman whose several attempts to kill Victor, Rose, and Tony leave him in hospital ... and with one ear.
  • Geoff Bell as Fabian: Dixon's half-witted partner.

Critical reception

The reception for the film has been poor with Timeout London only giving it 2 out of 5 stars saying that it feels like nothing has been "thought through." [3] The verdict given by Empire online is equally poor and they say that the "talented cast keep some low-key action and tired gags from derailing this disappointing farce." and they also only give it a 2 out of 5 rating.[4] The film aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes which averages out professional reviews and it only gave a 29% average.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b CinemaNX boards trio Variety.com. Retrieved on 4 September 2008.
  2. ^ a b c d e Jonathan Lynn's official website Retrieved on 4 September 2008.
  3. ^ http://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/88633/wild-target.html
  4. ^ Crook, Simon. "Wild Target (12A)", Empire online, September 2010
  5. ^ Wild Target at Rotten Tomatoes

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