Wild Target

A few tart, amusing lines echo the fabled Kind Hearts and Coronets, yet this British movie based on a French farce falls into morbid silliness.

The film has to fly by its wits -- and its witty lines -- and by the charm of its stars. This it does, just barely.

It's never a good idea to cast Bill Nighy as a buttoned-down hit man.

Practically a text book in how ugly things can get when you don't have the right, light touch for this sort of thing.

There have been a lot of black comedies about assassins lately -- there have been a few just this year -- but Wild Target may be the first one to contain genuine laughs.

An eccentric little comic thriller filled with enough laughs that I was mostly willing to overlook the fact that it makes virtually no sense as a thriller.

Two delightful stars nudge Wild Target into sleeper territory - but only by a few inches.

...mindless entertainment in a refined style.

"Wild Target" bears all the hallmarks of [director Jonathan] Lynn's best films, despite being, even at a tidy 90 minutes, a bit too long.

Wild Target is the sort of madcap comedy that breaks a sweat trying to generate a steady stream of laughs, but ... the film only works in fits and starts.

"Wild Target" has fast, quippy dialogue and exactly the right actors to drive it home.

When the various elements all fizzle, all we're left with is some likable actors trying their best to save a fading film.