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The Gunman

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02:24

The Gunman

Name: The Gunman
Director: Pierre Morel
Genre: Crime/detective, Thriller, Action, Mystery
Released: 2015
Duration: 1 h 50 min
Cast: Sean Penn, Idris Elba, Mark Rylance, Jasmine Trinca, Javier Bardem

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Crime/detective
Thriller

2015
Pierre Morel
110 mins
15

Summary

Action thriller starring Sean Penn, Idris Elba and Mark Rylance. Time catches up with a former mercenary responsible for assassinating an African politician when he becomes a target for hit squads years later. Forced into hiding, he embarks on a dangerous quest to find out who wants him dead.

IMDB

Review

A star rating of 2 out of 5.

Stella Papamichael

As producer and star of The Gunman, Sean Penn runs away with himself, striking all kinds of action-man poses without ever making a strong impression. He attempts to get director Pierre Morel to do for him what he did for Liam Neeson in Taken except that, as well as lacking the necessary swagger, the gunman he plays is also far from noble. He's an ex-mercenary working for an NGO in Africa, evidently to assuage his guilt for assassinating a minister and throwing the Democratic Republic of the Congo into chaos. When the tables are turned and he's caught in the crosshairs, he shoots his way through Spain to seek help from an old cohort and love rival (Javier Bardem, ripe as Iberico ham), putting the woman he claims to love (Jasmine Trinca) in mortal danger. There isn't much fire between them anyway and her utter helplessness is just another indication of how dated the formula is. This half-cocked shoot-em-up also squanders the talents of Idris Elba, Mark Rylance and Ray Winstone. With this effort, Penn is way off the mark.

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5.8/10