Rating: C+
Dir: Gareth Lewis.
Star: Damian Lewis, Kate Ashfield, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Dyfan Dwyfor.
a.k.a. Assassin in Love
This is 86 minutes of silly fun, in the same tone as the far better Keeping Mum, that sets its stall out early with a sparse efficiency reflecting the run-time, and with music as a pitch-perfect accompaniment. Within it we find Damian Lewis as Milo “The Baker” Shakespeare, a retiring hit-man being actively pursued by his ex-employers in the guise of Bjorn (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), as they would much prefer a more permanent retirement for him.
Wishing to escape his life, his ex-mentor Leo (Michael Gambon) points him to his own bolt-hole, in Gwynfyd Wales, a long closed bakery. “Will you be making doughnuts!?”. It is soon clear that this village is full of very varied characters, including exploding sheep, and a gnomicidal maniac. With no padding the plot cracks on, and all too soon Eggs (the amateur bomb maker and conspiracy theorist) uncovers evidence that Milo may not be all he seems and, whilst keeping things under their hats, all too soon the whole village knows that ‘something’ is afoot.
“I wonder how much he charges?”
What follows is a proper, silly, surreal farce, delightfully and properly British, and soon everyone is ordering chocolate cake.
“Is there anyone in this village who doesn’t want someone dead!?!?”
“Possibly Mrs Pritchard….?”
The denouement is delivered as telegraphed, and is as chuckle-worthy as it is entirely predictable.
So. This is in no way a great film, but this viewer found it funny and a bit like a warm bath, with nothing challenging, nor overly exciting going on. The piece does feel as if it could have done with maybe an additional ten minutes of run-time to expand some of the story as, now and again, things feel a bit rushed and sudden. But it doesn’t outstay its welcome and gets a warm ‘C+’ from me. Perfect fodder for a rainy Sunday afternoon.