Violet & Daisy

A pair of young women working as contract killers in order to support their taste for fun vacations and fashionable attire might sound like a good premise for a cheeky movie. Certainly the opening sequence--in which Violet (Alexis Bledel) and Daisy (Saoirse Ronan), dressed as pizza-delivering nuns, take out a gang of mobsters—boasts a certain flair. But writer-director Geoffrey Fletcher can't sustain the idea in this film that quickly degenerates into a tedious talkathon centered on the girls' next target, a sad-sack who has stolen mob money. It turns out that the potential victim is terminally ill and trying to commit suicide-by-assassin, at which point Violet & Daisy devolves into a sort of existential dialogue in which the three characters reveal their personal demons. Conversation alone isn't enough, of course, so Fletcher keeps inventing incidents—a trip to buy bullets, the arrival of another group of killers—to string out the running-time. Despite its weaknesses, Violet & Daisy is notable for featuring one of the last performances by the late James Gandolfini as the girls' target, putting his hangdog manner to use as the doomed, good-hearted lug—the very antithesis of Tony Soprano—who actually bakes homemade cookies for his guests. Unfortunately, Gandolfini's turn is overshadowed by the absolute artificiality of the narrative. Not a necessary purchase. (F. Swietek)