The Big Hit (1998)
Director: Che-Kirk Wong
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Lou Diamond Phillips, Christina Applegate, Elliot Gould, Lela Rochon
It's hard to imagine any film packing this much star-power successfully navigating beneath the mainstream Hollywood radar, but until its recent release on video The Big Hit languished in near-obscurity. Why the unusually low profile? Chances are it's because Tinseltown seldom delivers movies about suburban contract killers prepackaged and gift-wrapped.
Che-Kirk Wong's 1998 film unabashedly defies categorization. At times it impersonates a Hong Kong action film; other times it's a convincing black comedy. When bored with those genres, it redefines itself as a Hollywood-styled romantic-thriller. Confused yet? Don't be. Just imagine that you are renting three pictures for the price of one.
The Big Hit may be schizophrenic, but from a strictly entertainment standpoint, it works. The action scintillates, the romantic chemistry titillates, and the humor is actually worth laughing at. The film traces the ongoing misadventures of Melvin Smiley (Mark Wahlberg, fresh from his role as Boogie Night's Dirk Diggler), a reluctant suburban hit-man forced to battle conniving girlfriends, homicidal ex-colleagues, ever-present stomach cramps, and a trash-talking pipsqeak video-rental manager. If that's not enough, there's the small matter of cooking dinner (a traditionally kosher meal, no less) for his visiting soon-to-be in-laws -- one's a bigot, the other a drunk - and disposing one less-than-cooperative sexy female hostage (debuting U.K. starlit China Chow). Sound silly? Sure. Sound fun? You betcha!
Toeing the line between violence and comedy is never easy, and few directors have effectively melded the two. That said: Wong's effort is definitely above average. His success lies in the film's highly stylized action sequences - some which are admittedly lifted from various Hong Kong films, but remain highly entertaining nonetheless -- and the surprising comedic range of his cast. In particular, Lou Diamond Phillips shines as Wahlberg's brash, jive-talking, sociopathic nemesis. Christina Applegate and Lela Rochon are both competent (read: sexy and funny) in their portrayals of stereotypic, silver-spoon fed gold-diggers, and all three characters act as effective foils for the soft-spoken Wahlberg, whose straight-laced character appears more comfortable taking out the garbage than blowing holes in the opposition.
Call it a farce; call it a mindless suburban romp, but mostly call it over the top entertainment. The Big Hit doesn't take itself seriously, so why should you? Like the early films of director Sam Raimi (Evil Dead II, Crimewave)and Stanley Tong (The Heroic Trio, Executioners), Wong meshes heart-pounding action with a healthy dose of violence, humor and T and A. Better yet, call it something for everyone. With this wide a range of targets, Wahlberg and company are sure to be a "big hit" with more than their share of the video-renting public.
Go To Page: 1 2
