Killers Film Review

By Kam Williams    

Kutcher and Heigl Co-Star in Spy Retires to Suburbia Sitcom

Spencer Aimes (Ashton Kutcher) is a CIA Agent with a license to kill. The dashing international spy with 14 notches on his belt is staying at a luxurious, seaside resort in Nice, France where he is preparing for another hit. The daring sleuth's current assignment calls for him to scuba dive to a yacht docked nearby in order to attach an explosive to the bottom of a helicopter sitting on the boat's deck before detonating the bomb via remote control once the chopper's hovering over the Mediterranean.

En route to executing the assignment, however, sparks fly when he shares an elevator with Jen Kornfeldt (Katherine Heigl), a conventional Midwestern gal registered at the same hotel. She's on vacation, accompanied by her parents, to get back into the saddle after recently being dumped by her jerk of a boyfriend. Until now, her alcoholic mother (Catherine O'Hara) and overprotective father (Tom Selleck) have mostly been running interference between their daughter and any prospective suitors, like proverbial flies in the ointment.

However, instantly-smitten Jen and Spencer agree to have dinner that evening, a date which blossoms into a whirlwind romance that in turn leads to love and marriage. Tired of the grisly side of his profession, Spencer welcomes this opportunity to leave espionage behind for an uneventful life in suburbia with the girl of his dreams.

An ominous warning from his boss (Martin Holbrook), that no one just walks away from the Agency unilaterally, bears fruit only after we find the cozy couple settled back in the States. Just pregnant Jen still has no clue about her husband's line of work until he spill the beans when assassins start jumping out of the woodwork to take potshots for the $20 million bounty on his head.

Thus, the plot finally thickens in the second act of Killers, a freewheeling farce directed by Aussie Robert Luketic (Legally Blonde). This madcap, action sitcom merges the talents of Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl, a well-matched pair of naturals blessed with perfect comedic timing. The two generate as much screen chemistry as they do laughs, although they're ultimately abandoned by a script which turns a tad too farcical for this critic's taste.

Nonetheless, the movie is worth the investment for the cinematic capture of the Southern France backdrops, as well as the badinage between the charming leads ever so reminiscent of those classic Doris Day-Rock Hudson exchanges in flicks like Pillow Talk (1959), Lover Come Back (1961) and Send Me No Flowers (1964).

Send Me No Hit Men!

Very Good (2.5 stars)
Rated PG-13 for sexuality, profanity and violence.
Running time: 100 Minutes
Distributor: Lionsgate Films

To see a trailer for Killers, press play:

Kam Williams is a syndicated film and book critic who writes for 100+ publications. He is a member of the New York Film Critics Online, the African-American Film Critics Association, and the NAACP Image Awards Nominating Committee. Contact him through NewsBlaze.

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