THE VIRTUOSO
Cert 15 ★★
On digital now, DVD from May 10
If you’re desperate to see the touching performance that won Sir Anthony Hopkins his Oscar, you’ll have to wait until his dementia drama The Father reaches UK cinemas next month. But for now, here’s the oldest-ever acting winner in a pulpy hitman thriller.
Although the 83-year-old delivers a long graveside speech about the horrors of war with gusto, it’s so out of kilter with the rest of the film that you wonder if it was written to fulfil some contractual obligation.
Mostly, we’re with Anson Mount’s taciturn hitman The Virtuoso (all the characters are named after their role in the story) as he embarks on the most challenging assignment of his career.
His boss The Mentor (Hopkins) has packed him off to a roadside diner with no information except a time and the mysterious phrase “White Rivers”. Without a name or a photo, he has to work out which of the occupants he is supposed to knock off.
According to the end credits, these are The Loner (Eddie Marsan), The Waitress (Abbie Cornish), Handsome Johnnie and Johnnie’s Girl (Richard Brake and Diora Baird) and The Deputy (David Morse).
It’s intriguing stuff but what feels like a tacked-on voiceover keeps working against the suspense. When our gruff anti-hero thinks he’s honing in on his target, we keep hearing him hitman-splaining the bleeding obvious in a monotone voice.
“It is possible the front door may be locked,” he tells us, while unsuccessfully waggling a handle.
The big twist needs no explanation. You should see it coming a mile off.