Wild Target (2009)

It's kind of surprising how many movies there are about hitmen. There are a couple of John Cusack films, the Jean Renot/Natalie Portman film, at leat half a dozen Jason Statham films, a pair of Tom Berenger films and these are just the ones that I can think of off the top of my head. A subset of these are comedies and ones that I find quite funny. Perhaps it's the juxtaposition of the absurdity with the fatality. There are certain spy films that utilize a comedic aspect - the super spy who is living the secret life and goes to extremes to keep those around him or her thinking that they are just an average person, usually going about it in a comedic manner. The comedic hitman films mirror this style of spy film. This film follows along similar lines, though Victor (Bill Nighy) is trying terribly hard to hide what he does, yet he doesn't just tell Rose (Emily Blunt) or Tony (Rupert Grint) what it is that he really does, letting them think he's a private detective which he tells Rose in one of the worst lies ever made funnier than you would think when she just buys it lock, stock and barrel.
I really like Bill Nighy's work, so would have tracked this film down just for that, but was intrigued by Rupert Grint. I recently saw The Perks of Being a Wallflower with Emma Watson and was delighted to see that she could be someone else other than Hermione Grainger. I am happy to report that Rupert Grint did a marvelous job and was quite funny. I am glad he has been able to find something other than Ron Weasely. Though I didn't know how old this was until I watched it, so I guess this was filmed when Grint was on break from the Harry Potter films. I guess I'll have to find something with Daniel Radcliffe now and complete the trifecta.
Not that I need another reason to recommend this film to anyone, past the good acting and madcap antics (that's right, I said antics), but the music is great. If I had watched this film even a year ago, I would have been unfamiliar with about half the songs, but somehow I stumbled upon an Irish Rock-a-billy performer named Imelda May that has three songs featured in the film including one over the closing credits. The lyrics and the feel of the songs are oddly suited for the scenes they're used with, which is I guess the sign of a good musical director, since I know the songs were not written for the film but for an earlier album she had released.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention Martin Freeman in his brilliant (there's a joke there in the film) portrayal of Dixon the bad guy who is pursuing our little mismatched gang. It reminds me that he is capable of far more than serious adventure or sleuthing and takes me back to his days on the Office and in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which I do believe also had Bill Nighy. His character is reminiscent of Dan Akroyd's in Grosse Point Blanke. He was very funny to watch.

Wild Target on IMDb