Slightly disappointed

Rating: 6/10 (16 December 2008)

For some reason, this movie didn't click with me. The movie is one of the most inventive thrillers of recent years. And yet...
The reason could be Josh hartnett. I don't think I have been so underwhelmed with a performance of a leading man in a good thriller. Maybe he lacked the potential to be a proper leading man. His cool,composed style is maybe out of place in this movie. He doesn't have the screen presence to perform this role which is somewhat intense. He has a bored look on his face all the time.
The basic plot line is as follows : Slevin Kelevra(Josh Hartnett) is a man who is mistaken for his friend Nick fisher and gets caught between two mob bosses, The Boss(Morgan freeman) and The Rabbi(Ben Kingsley) who are intent on wiping out each other. In a complicated storyline, a hit-man simply named as Good cat(Bruce willis) is also involved in this mess. There is also a girl Lindsay(Lucy Liu) who helps Slevin make some sense of the whole thing. Unfortunately Lucy liu's role is quite short and I feel she was underutilised in this movie.
One thing I loved about this movie is the way the director finally closes all the loose ends at the end. The movie flows smoothly with a dark style of humor and an energetic screenplay. That is one of the strengths of the movie and might be the reason for the high rating this movie has. Bruce willis' performance is another one which is a strong point. He plays the regular tough guy role that he is famous for and he does that to perfection. Morgan Freeman is somewhat wasted in this role and his abilities could have been put to better use. Still, he does well enough to give the right edge to the bad guy character. Ben Kingsley, again, is much more capable. Still, I hope both these actors would do better in choosing their roles.
Does it have replay value? Maybe not because there aren't many memorable scenes and the humor is somewhat forced in many scenes(especially the scenes with the two black hit men at the beginning). Or maybe Josh Hartnett does not have the ability to deliver the lines right for this kind of humor. Whatever it is, the humor doesn't seem natural and the natural British style humour isn't anywhere to be seen(which I expected because the director is British).
Overall a good thriller but somewhat disappointed because my expectations were sky high for this one. The twist was very good and for that I applaud the director because it doesn't seem like a cop out. Instead it seems like an intelligent end and doesn't have many plot holes in it. It is a thriller for an intelligent audience. But Josh hartnett's performance is a downer and the revenge theme has been done in many movies. But this gives a new twist to it and a fresh approach to the thriller genre. But don't expect a classic or anything.
Overall rating 6/10