Though there is some sympathy elicited for Hauser’s put-upon Campbell, as his day goes from bad to worse and he conveys concern, then mounting panic in a believable manner, we never really care about any of the victims, nor get enough of a handle on Arbor and his reasons for going off-piste. As noted earlier, the running time is commendably brief and therefore there is little or no time for the pacing to sag, but there is also little to really feel very strongly about either. Unfortunately for The Hit List, though each of the principals are great in their respective roles, the film as a whole struggles to escape the limitations of its obvious DTV roots. Jonathan LaPaglia (younger brother of Without A Trace’s Anthony) appears as a policeman trying to make sense of Hauser’s involvement with Gooding Jr and having not seen him in anything since TV’s Seven Days, it was good to see that his combination of everyday charm and persuasive charisma is still keeping him in gainful employment. Having seen him generally skew on the tougher side in Pitch Black, Tigerland and 2 Fast 2 Furious, it’s quite a treat to see him so convincingly portray a down-trodden weakling, burying his considerable physicality beneath hunched shoulders and a well-judged black eye that he carries throughout the sensibly brief running time. He demonstrates a dead-eyed relentlessness that although at odds with many of his previous roles remains thoroughly convincing.Ĭole Hauser’s casting is intriguing and successful too. Here he gets to play a clearly very ill, but still ruthless and dangerous hit-man and his apparent amorality is well conveyed. He was good in As Good As It Gets, but nonsense like Boat Trip, Snow Dogs and Daddy Day Camp have made scant use of his considerable talents. Since bagging a well-deserved Oscar for showing us the money in Jerry Maguire (which itself followed up impressive work in everything from Boyz N The Hood to Gladiator, A Few Good Men and Outbreak), he has somewhat lost his way. The next day, the bodies start to pile up and Campbell has a race on his hands to try to stop the killing before it reaches its conclusion with the death of his wife.Ĭuba Gooding Jr has been in the wilderness for what seems like a lifetime. Thinking it all to be a big joke and with his far from sharp wits further blunted by a steady stream of bourbon, Campbell assembles the list on a napkin.

There, he meets Jonas Arbor (Cuba Gooding Jr), a disgruntled but none the less deadly assassin, who eventually persuades Campbell to scribble down a list of the five people he would like to have killed.

He moves into a hotel and heads for a local bar to drown his considerable sorrows. Passed over for promotion, he comes home to find his wife in apparent post-coital bliss with his (former) best friend. Allan Campbell (Cole Hauser) is having a very bad day.

Movie the hit list