Wild Target

A few tart, amusing lines echo the fabled Kind Hearts and Coronets, yet this British movie based on a French farce falls into morbid silliness.

The film has to fly by its wits -- and its witty lines -- and by the charm of its stars. This it does, just barely.

It's never a good idea to cast Bill Nighy as a buttoned-down hit man.

If not better than the French original, this re-make is equally good and equally funny.

The film is directed with a surprising lack of comic spark by Jonathan Lynn.

Practically a text book in how ugly things can get when you don't have the right, light touch for this sort of thing.

Two delightful stars nudge Wild Target into sleeper territory - but only by a few inches.

...mindless entertainment in a refined style.

"Wild Target" bears all the hallmarks of [director Jonathan] Lynn's best films, despite being, even at a tidy 90 minutes, a bit too long.

Wild Target is the sort of madcap comedy that breaks a sweat trying to generate a steady stream of laughs, but ... the film only works in fits and starts.