The Assignment

Director Walter Hill's pulpy psycho-sexual thriller begins with a gratuitous, full-frontal nude scene involving Frank Kitchen, a nasty hitman, hiding out in a sleazy San Francisco hotel after murdering a gangster. Suddenly, Frank is confronted by thugs who deliver him to megalomaniacal plastic surgeon Dr. Rachel Kay (Sigourney Weaver), whose medical license has been revoked. Because Frank killed Rachel's debt-riddled, playboy brother (Adrian Hough), she is determined to wreak her own deviant revenge. When Frank awakens, he discovers that he's undergone a sex change. Without embarrassment, Frank (Michelle Rodriguez) examines his female breasts and is furious about the surgical removal of his penis, which doesn't seem to deter his relationship with a flirtatious nurse (Caitlin Gerard) with whom he had a one-night stand. When Dr. Kay is subsequently committed to a mental institution, psychiatrist Dr. Ralph Green (Tony Shalhoub) is assigned to evaluate her sanity. Calm and confident, despite wearing a straitjacket, Kay flaunts her intellectual superiority, quoting Shakespeare and Edgar Allan Poe. Based on a French graphic novel, The Assignment subversively taps into provocative topics like plastic surgery and gender re-assignment, but this is essentially schlocky B-movie fare, a titillating and trashy excuse to present a lurid killing spree. Not recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include a “Filmmaking Portraits” montage (2 min.). Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are bonus DVD and UltraViolet copies of the film. Bottom line: a small extras package for a lurid, empty thriller.] (S. Granger)