The Gunman
A sniper on a mercenary assassination team, kills the minister of mines
of the Congo. Terrier's successful kill shot forces him into hiding.
Returning to the Congo years later, he becomes the target of a hit squad
himself.
Director:
Pierre MorelWriters:
Jean-Patrick Manchette (novel), Don MacPherson (screenplay), 2 more credits »Stars:
Sean Penn, Idris Elba, Jasmine Trinca | See full cast and crew »Storyline
A sniper on a mercenary assassination team, working for an unknown
client, kills the minister of mines of the Congo. Terrier's (Sean
Penn's) successful kill shot forces him to go into hiding to protect
himself and the members of the team from retribution. This includes
abruptly abandoning his girlfriend who has no idea what is going on. The
assassination, paid for by a foreign mining company, triggers wide
spread chaos and death in an already inflamed Congo. Terrier returns to
the Congo years later working for an NGO, but eventually finds himself
to be the target of a paid hit squad somehow connected to the ministers
assassination. This leads to immediate deaths and the endangerment of
the people working around him, and forces him back into hiding. In
trying to discover who has put a price on his head, he begins to
reconnect to the members of his old assassination team, including his
old girlfriend. Always aware there is no path to redemption for his
crimes, he is also periodically ... Written by
RSailor
User Reviews
The Prone Treason
This production which
tries permanently to impress its audience is adapted from the french
book " Like a Sniper Lining Up His Shot, or The Prone Gunman " of
Jean-Patrick Manchette. And as this novel can be a masterpiece of
thriller, this movie is taken away from it in any way, by without
reaching only once the purpose that its producers seem to have settled !
At first many things are changed between the book and the scenario, and in spite of an performance rather honest of a often bare-chested Sean Penn, the set looks like the finish in one of these marvels of the cinema of the 90s with Jean-Claude Van Damme. It explode and it crackles with a constant fire, but nothing is given to deepen the psychological profile of the protagonists, not to mention the totally non-existent suspense and the unfounded threats.It's a pity because there was there way to make a success, more or less, of an adaptation because everything was already ankled in the papers of this very " hard- boiled " writer Manchette. Furthermore, we feel well the aseptic environment created to please everybody just like the rigorous happy-end: here, the sharpshooter is kind of a nice person... What's not exactly true.
And then why to have anglicized a narrative which take place, body and soul, especially in Paris ?
At first many things are changed between the book and the scenario, and in spite of an performance rather honest of a often bare-chested Sean Penn, the set looks like the finish in one of these marvels of the cinema of the 90s with Jean-Claude Van Damme. It explode and it crackles with a constant fire, but nothing is given to deepen the psychological profile of the protagonists, not to mention the totally non-existent suspense and the unfounded threats.It's a pity because there was there way to make a success, more or less, of an adaptation because everything was already ankled in the papers of this very " hard- boiled " writer Manchette. Furthermore, we feel well the aseptic environment created to please everybody just like the rigorous happy-end: here, the sharpshooter is kind of a nice person... What's not exactly true.
And then why to have anglicized a narrative which take place, body and soul, especially in Paris ?