Wild Target

Bill Nighy stars in this British crime comedy about a hit man with an identity crisis. Victor Maynard (Nighy) is the number-one assassin in the world, a cold-blooded professional who approaches each assignment with meticulous discipline, as befits the proud—if eccentric—family tradition that his domineering invalid mother (Eileen Atkins) will never let him forget. But Maynard's fastidious aplomb is rattled when he's dispatched to kill Rose (Emily Blunt), a mischievous grifter who has pulled a fast-switch on a Rembrandt portrait that she sold to multimillionaire gangster/art collector Ferguson (Rupert Everett), leaving him with a worthless forgery. Rose is so charming and blithely dishonest that lonely, uptight Maynard is smitten, becoming her protector by pretending to be a private detective. To rectify the situation, Ferguson hires a rival assassin, Dixon (Martin Freeman), leading to a getaway in which Maynard and Rose inadvertently pick up Tony (Rupert Grint) in a parking garage. Callow, pot-smoking Tony is intrigued by Maynard, enlisting as his apprentice as the trio seeks refuge first in a posh London hotel and then in Maynard's country hideaway. Director Jonathan Lynn's droll and saucy Wild Target is wildly uneven, but a strong optional purchase. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include an “On Target with Emily Blunt” featurette on the star (4 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a slim extras package for an oddball film.] (S. Granger)