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For 37 years, the "Old Man" (Vernon Wells) has worked for the police - and he didn't even get a simple "thank you" out of it. So ever since his retirement he has assembled a group of killers, seven in total (Marnette Patterson, Daniel O'Reilly, Paul Logan, Jackie Moore, Jordan James Smith, Forrest Meadows, Jason Scott Jenkins), who all kill for different reasons, but all at least in part for the kick of it, and who now act as his private hitman squad for hire. And over the years, the septet have become the old man's surrogate family - and a quite functional family even, as they love him as much as he loves them and have a mutual respect among each other. So when the old man tells them he's dying from cancer, it hits them hard. The old man however wants to go out with a bang, he wants the city's most corrupt cop Fowler (Chris Moss), who is to be made the city's police captain, assassinated at his inauguration party, and he promises the one person who makes the most kills during that party to inherit his pretty sizeable fortune. Now this is of course no ordinary party, as about half the attendees will be cops, and the venue will be extremely well guarded - but the old man's killing crew is nothing if not resourceful, and they all find ways to trick their way into the event, even if that means slaughtering quite a few of Fowler's cop cronies in the process. But making it in is one thing, making the kill a while other pair of shoes ...

So ok, this is a film that's pretty brutal, there are some disturbing murders, most of the main characters are psychopaths, and to say the film is morally ambiguous is putting it mildly. At the same time, the film oddly enough also shows lots of heart, thanks to a cleverly written script that doesn't just follow a good/evil dichotomy but manages to dig deep into its characters, presenting us with their side of the story without actually justifying their often vile acts - which is also helped by a competent cast. And a directorial effort that finds the right balance between subtlety in the quiet scenes and explosive action where demanded of course helps to make this pretty great entertainment.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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