Rent The Virtuoso (2021)

Good for Fargo fans - The Virtuoso review by Rob S

Expectations were quite low going into this but we actually enjoyed it quite a bit. The whole film has a kind of Fargo Season 1 vibe with the lead character being an assassin (also kind of Billy Bob Thornton look....but not as good an actor) and a quirky character led story. I can see that some would find this slow and boring but we really enjoyed the intelligent character development and the story that makes sense. The voiceover dialogue is a little flat but does explain the details of each job (and reminds a bit of Elliot in Mr Robot). Hopkins gives a good turn especially in his early graveyard monologue and also some other recognisable faces turn up. All in a slow burner. Not full of action and not the greatest performances but enjoyable none the less. Recommended if you like to put some thought into your movie watching. Overall Rating 3.5 stars = Good

Nice storyline with twists - The Virtuoso review by AB

[Trying not to give too much away here!]

An enjoyable little thriller with very little back story (but that is not needed anyway) and several twists to keep you awake, thinking and interested. A couple of holes in the story do not detract from the enjoyment.

Definitely worth a watch

Silly Thriller - The Virtuoso review by GI

A gloomy, literally so, thriller about a hitman (Anson Mount) who boringly narrates his way through the narrative telling us how to be ubër professional but managing to basically cock up every hit we get to see. It's a muddled story too with Anthony Hopkins playing the unnamed hitman's boss and how they must have rejoiced at getting Hopkins to agree to do this, he has one soliloquy where he rattles on about a Vietnam massacre he took part in and where he barely attempts an American accent, and we get to see him endlessly sitting in a chair usually cleaning an assortment of guns. The Hitman gets an enigmatic assignment to kill another assassin but for whatever reason he is not told the target only a location and on arrival it becomes one of those mysteries as to who he has to eliminate. Only it's not that mysterious because it's pretty obvious all along. At times the film is quite laughable, an example is the Hitman taking a silenced pistol as he's meant to be stealthy but he also straps on a machine gun too! The whole thing is nonsense and wrought with cliché and silliness. The only light is Abbie Cornish who supports, an actor that we need to see more of and Eddie Marsan cameos but is sadly very underused. One to avoid I'm afraid.