Crosshairs (2013) User Reviews

A Slow Stare-Fest...Awkward at Times

[LeonLouisRicci · 5/10 · 24 June 2014]

A Glacial Pacing and some Very Awkward Scenes Taint this Tale of a Professional Assassin, a sort of a "Day in the Life". The Movie Looks Pretty Good and the Acting is Passable but the Writing is too Ambiguous and Underwrought.

There are Two Intolerable Scenes, one Unbearably Long and Wordy, the other just Unbearable. The Porn Director's Endless Story Telling of a Youthful Sexual Encounter may have You Reaching for the Stop Button or Falling Asleep as it just goes on Forever and Tom Sizemore's One Scene is just Outrageously Bad.

This Moody-Broody Movie is OK but Requires a High Patience Tolerance and the Ending is, Again, Very Ambiguous and the Long Trek to get there is Perhaps the Most Unrewarding Letdown of a Film that Aspires for Something Different and Maybe even High-Art, but it comes up a bit Short on Both.

KILL THE BEAST BEFORE THE BEAST KILLS YOU

[nogodnomasters · 4/10 · 10 August 2018]

Jack (Robert Seay) is an ex-Iraqi war vet, which we know from the movies all become hired killers. His latest request to murder a porn producer (Jeffrey Vincent Parise) who disfigured an eastern European woman brought to America to make adult film. There is a subplot which involves his ex-GF and former sister-in-law (same person, Kodi Kitchen) who shows up at his door one day needing a place to crash. Meanwhile there is a guy named Brill (Mark Rolston) who wants to recruit Jack.

The action scenes are quick which allows the film to move slow. Jack doesn't really have any character and its stone faced the entire film. The subplots don't come together in a clever fashion as one would expect which leaves you wondering, "what's the point?" There are better indie action films out there. Poorly conceived and poorly executed.

Parental Guide: F-bomb, sex talk, off screen sex, nude painting on wall.

Could have been good...

[Deliberate_Stranger · 7 June 2013]

Believe it or not but I really wanted to like this movie. Waited for a DVD release, pre-ordered and then, when it finally arrived, I can't believe how the good storyline was wasted. On paper everything looks good but that's it. I have no idea why film drags for 2 hours when it should be maximum 80 minutes long and then, maybe there would be more tension in it. Because it is that long, it has to rely on acting and here comes the biggest failure. Leading actor Robert Seay is just beyond terrible. For the first few minutes I thought he will do just fine. Contract killer doesn't have to look tough after all. However, just after those few minutes I realized how big failure of an actor he is. Emotional scenes don't exist because this guy can't act. He's trying to look tough, talk tough and act tough but he's not tough, he's not smart and he just makes you laugh like hell when you see him trying. With a lead like that, your movie has to sink. Rest of the cast is pretty much horrible like that but it doesn't show that much because they usually appear on screen for a minute or less. There is however one man, doing his job right. It's Mark Rolston, fantastic actor who's trying to save this film. He can't do that because he's alone and his screen time is limited to few scenes. It's hard to say if he's a good guy or the bad guy after all but Mark does his job with charisma as usual. Tom Sizemore is top billed but to any fans out there(if he still have some fans that is) -he appears in one scene only. This scene however have to be seen to be believed. Not because he's doing great job but because he's high as hell. Yup, we all know Tom likes drugs and it doesn't bother me at all if he does them in his free time but being so high on the set is just...wrong. If you ever wondered why he's not in a big movies anymore - here is your answer. He has a monologue here and it could sound well if provided by other name actor but it wasn't. I hope his name helped to sell the film because his acting was just plain horrible. Kodi Kitchen is a leading lady and to be honest she does a fair job. She's not that much of an actress but around so many amateurs, she shines. 'Crosshairs' tries to be a thriller but there is no tension at all. There is action at all. If you expect any shootouts, fights or anything like that - forget it. All they do is talk. Leading guy fires his gun two or three times during the whole film, no one else tries to. I'm giving it 3 stars for Mark Rolston and because technically it looks good. If you want to skip any action and base your film on acting, you need to have a good actors. Otherwise it doesn't make sense.

Mind-numbingly bad

[bluehairxenu · 1/10 · 20 May 2014]

I want the 2 hours of my life back. Mind-numbingly bad, if you watch this from start to finish you will be in a stupid-induced coma by the end. This thing seems to move in geological time, unpossible to like or have sympathy for ANY of the characters. The end is so bad you'll want to throw something at the screen. Give this a pass, unless you like pointless nonsense void of dialogue or acting. Imagine someone asks a question and the character doesn't respond, and you get LOTS of that. Or watching a guy cook an egg for no apparent reason, and it takes longer on the screen than if he'd REALLy cooked an egg. I could go on, but it would be pointless. Like this movie.

Don't say you haven't been warned.

Inchoerent

[bkoganbing · 2/10 · 10 November 2014]

I spent almost two hours watching Crosshairs with a cast that I barely know anything about and a film I had to watch in stages as it bored me to tears. As it was when I finally finished the film I still wasn't sure about what I had watched so incoherent was the story.

Robert Seay is hired to exact some revenge payment on a man who abused a Russian débutante whom we discover later is a high priced call girl. But he gets persistently bothered by Mark Rolston who wants to offer him a new and challenging career, the specifics of which are never really spelled out.

What can I say, the direction is lifeless, the players sleepwalk through their roles and the script is incoherent. Pass this by.

Bored to Tears

[copywrangler · 1/10 · 14 March 2020]

The hitman looks like he should be a produce guy at Publix and it would probably be more exciting to watch him mark down brown bananas with his price gun.

I only got to the 45 minute point of this self induced coma.

Ridiculously stupid

[ri43210 · 1/10 · 24 February 2019]

Not worth writing about. Don't Waste your time like I did.

I was hoping for more...

[ivegotavocados · 6/10 · 17 July 2013]

I may have had different expectations had I not gone to watch this thinking it was an action movie. As far as action, other than what's in the trailer, nothing else really happens. Unfortunately, the story is muddled and the lead actor doesn't give me anything to keep my attention. His performance lacks any objective. I'm all for a slower paced film, but there still needs to be a clear action/objective within every inaction, or else you lose the tension and the audience. I feel like this could've been a better film just by a better casting of Jack Verlaine. Mark Rolston did bring the energy up some. I found myself much more engaged with his scenes and some with Kodi Kitchen, as well.

Independent Hit-man

[joelnkraus · 8/10 · 4 July 2013]

My buddy was watching this at his house so I came in about 15 minutes late, but it was interesting enough where we kept watching. And I wanted to see what was going to happen. Really good and believable acting. Shots look cool, but you can see where the picture quality kind of seems low grade in some scenes. It's an independent movie so I take that into consideration. This isn't HEAT or the PROFESSIONAL. It's a cerebral movie, but offers just enough action and females to kind of keep you from looking away.

Tom Sizemore has a nutty scene. He's just crazy. I think he's just playing himself.

I wouldn't let my young kids see this because there are some pretty racy scenes and questionable language.

It's worth a rental or a fun night on Netflix.

8 out of 10.

Slow burn, day in the life

[LiamBlackburn · 7/10 · 29 April 2014]

At first, the movie seemed to be going nowhere and the acting appeared shaky. I decided to give it a chance, and I got slowly involved in this slow burn of a movie. It's a good movie to have on in the background while you're doing other things.

Basically, I would summarize this movie as a "day in the life" of a hired assassin. It follows him through his regular life and it makes you feel like you are living in it. The cool thing is that he isn't driving BMWs and living in expensive places. He drives a really old beat-up car and lives in a normal-looking house. He yawns a lot on the train and falls asleep. At first it seemed kind of weird, but after a while you could see the director's style. It was like he wanted you to see how average an assassin can be. Not like this terminator with no weaknesses, but just a guy who gets tired like everyone else and falls asleep on the train.

The music is also really well-done.

intense, intense, intense

[asinyne · 9/10 · 6 March 2017]

this movie is not for fans of John Wick or Chuck Norris. There are not big explosions, long drawn violent scenes, and little appeal to thirteen year old kids. This is about intense casting, intense acting, intense directing, intense scripting, and intense viewing. If I was to compare it to something more recent that would probably be the move the ACCountant...though this is really better in most ways though I liked the Affleck film. The Hit-man Jack has his serene murder for hire life terribly complicated by a bad knee, bad girls, bad porn stars, and bad characters trying to make him an offer he literally can't refuse.

This film is incredibly well cast. Tom Seismore gives a great performance as a high class pimp and the Porn director steals a huge chunck of the film and actually has the best role. This movie is all about horribly flawed people going about life in horribly destructive ways and generally making the world a much more horrible place to live in. There are no good guys anywhere in this movie. They are all "characters" that could best be described as lost souls.

The fact that you will sympathize with Jack and even feel a bit akin to the "Sausage King" is a superb example of masterful film making and manipulation of the audience. This move is real, there are no heros, no Iron Men, no Caped Crusader, no Scarlett Johanssen beating hell of dozens of massive opponents armed wit machine guns. In fact there is no one in tights during the entire movie.

Parts of the move are vague and leave you guessing a bit. You may think there are plot holes where its really simply leaving something for you think about. The people who make this film are artists. This movie was made for a million bucks and good lord, was the money well spent. I would rather go to the dentist that watch putrid horse poop like Iron man vs Captain America. I could easily watch this again trying to pick up on all the many nuances I might have missed the first time. If you are a serious film fan or even a film maker, you should see this movie. Yeah, I was darn impressed. It deserves a 9.5. The people who didn't like this movie are likely the ones eagerly waiting on the next Rambo

magnificent

[brent-handeland · 8/10 · 23 October 2013]

I've finally seen the long awaited "Crosshairs" by Nick Lentz. I can hardly submit an unbiased review based on knowing Nick form college, but as such I will attempt:) After warming the lamp on the big screen and turning down the bass as to not disturb the neighbors, Crosshairs delivers a suspenseful journey through the sleazy under workings of present day Los Angeles. I loved the locations as they felt real and one could nearly taste the Los Angeles weather. The music is reminiscent of Heat and the Godfather; a little awkward, but powerful and thrilling. The plot line was gripping and suspenseful to the end and gratifying to view. As to the biased part, the writing and directing are magnificent! thank you:) I will be watching again

Slow but really good

[jalopyjon · 8/10 · 14 October 2013]

This movie is reminiscent of 80's drama movies where the whole movie you are being dragged along to one final scene. The main character, Jack, was not your typical gun slinging hit-man, but rather a crafty, quiet, and cold individual. In a lot of ways this reminded me of guys who were snipers, in that there was a quiet way about them, almost as if they have seen a lot but were not going to share it or their thoughts.

I appreciate the twists towards the end, when he takes out the Sausage guy. In some ways I thought that might be the case when he was spilling his guts to Jack, but even then it was hard to tell as his character was so sleazy.

The one thing that his movie did do was leave me hanging with a few questions. This is good in some ways, but provides no closure regarding Jack.

All in all it was a good movie. I really liked the blip cameo of the director on the TV program. BTW what was that??