I Hired a Contract Killer

Despite the English settings and French lead, there's no avoiding how Finnish this film is: cold, taciturn, dryly funny. Aki's surrogate Helsinki is an immersive world, rendering a broad palette of emotion in the monochromatic hue of the absurd.

Kaurismaki working in English kind of reminds me of Kusturica working in English -- the tone is the same, but it seems like the heart isn't in it. There are some really, really funny bits of dry, black humor (Leaud's firing is a scream) but the non-comedic bits feel empty and rote.

An excellent movie, Kaurismäki's usual minimalism and subtle black humor translate well into UK English and the actors totally get him. I even enjoyed Léaud's performance, although I had found his performances weak or grating in some of the classic French films that had made him famous.

Starts off promising, creating a wonderfully drab atmosphere. Every shot is filled with decay and quiet sadness. Doesn't quite keep the momentum though, making it a bit of a slog to get to the end.

"The working class has no fatherland" and other droll insights.

Lots of film references, pretty solid Kaurismäki atmosphere, some decent humour.

How do you make a Kaurismaki movie even better? By adding Jean-Pierre Leaud, of course.

Cute idea for a film. Not bad but nothing noteworthy.

Suicide might not be as painless as some say. Despite being in English it's got the usual Aki Kaurismäki charm and Jean-Pierre Léaud is delightful, but besides the absurd premise the plot just doesn't have much to offer.

Nice film

I guess sometimes one's deadpan dark humor is another man's cringy humor.