The movie opened today in Spain. I´ll try not to give away any spoilers, lol. I liked it, but above all I loved HIS CHANCES. This is a bold move on Nic´s part IMHO.

I found the movie was totally relentless and visually stimulating in the Hong Kong style, wich totally befitted the stark tale being told: the story of a hitman, a true professional in his field, who unexpectedly discovers a soft spot in his heart and allows himself the careless luxury of feeling some sympathy for his fellow humans. Of course his two sides can´t coexist, and he ends up losing his cool. I think Nic´sperformance totally depicted the duality of his character, half steely gaze and cold blooded ruthlessness, half clumsy and hesisant and expectant as an inexperienced teen as he finds himself in the middle of a regular courtship with the sweetest girl in Bangkok. Nic once more manages to make us feel for a despicable character. Not an easy task in this case, trust me.

My admiration for Nic has gone up a notch today. What an anticommercial movie on all accounts. Above all I´m in awe of his daring. I guess he suspects he´s going to be slammed by critics and certainly this is not what audiences are expecting of him:He purposedly does not even look his usual onscreen persona. Photography is very dark, most scenes happen at night, his character is rather unpleasant, the environment is a hellish underworld, some action scenes are gruesome and the story line is as tragic as you can get, with succint dialogues and a despairing tone set by the score. But all is so consistent with the story, and to say Nic has lent himself to the character is an understatement.Our man goes on taking unusual chances notwithstanding. On his A-lister possition, this took guts. A seasoned (with curry) appetizer for his upcoming Bad Lieutenant. Oh yeah.

Last but not least: Nic´s gaze in this movie reminds me of Bullit. Remember the Steve McQueen movie? Despite being so cool, he was a sad and sorry man, Bullit.

-- Edited by mara at 17:07, 2008-08-22

-- Edited by mara at 16:53, 2008-08-25