Murder by Contract

Wonderfully crafted noir with a hint of humour, a vibrant soundtrack and great characters. I enjoyed the bits of social commentary and the tension build up is great. The only thing that bothered me was that knowing when this was made made the ending predictable, but it plays it straight so I can't blame the film for that.

Starts out compelling, becomes increasingly flawed in acting / plotting. The person in charge of lighting obviously had no idea what kind of movie this was supposed to be; way too clean and bright.

Murder by Contract has a New Wave, effervescent sort of cool. If that connects with you, you're going to end up considering this an original, inventive noir that's funny, but dark and always cool, punctuated by its jazzy guitar score and Vince Edwards' classy portrayal of the hitman.

I'm about to read Ayn Rand once and start yelling at waiters about how I deserve better

What a fun and extremely well-executed genre movie! This one pays much tribute to 'The Third Man', and modern films such as Drive certainly owe something to this film. At a brisk 80 minutes, it's a hired killer who plans and takes his time in getting the job done right. Scorsese, who is interviewed on the DVD, uses this film's influence in his own work like Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, and The Departed. A fantastic little movie and highly rewatchable.

A very, very low-key (but refreshingly different) hitman movie without any muss, fuss or any other kind of -usses. I enjoyed the rather laidback attitude and interesting mindset of the main character.

A spectacular B-movie noir. Vince Edwards is glorious as the cold, calculating, philosophical killer. Watching him coolly go about his work with detachment and precision is gripping. Lerner tells the story with economy and flair, constructing a number of memorable sequences. One of the most striking elements is the score: jaunty jazz guitar, very reminiscent of (and probably inspired by) The Third Man. I got a huge kick out of this unique and compelling film.

Simplicity is both the strength and weakness of this late noir. It has a consistent style both visually and aurally, along with a great performance by Williams as Claude. However, the b-movie qualities show too heavily on multiple occasions where the storytelling seems rushed, and the content trifling.

# 871

No one has mentioned Wile E Coyote-esq plan of remotely running 'high power' electricity to a television to make it a bomb?? A fun, quick movie.

726

I just thought this was a cold movie. There wasn't really much here for me to connect with. Edwards is fine as the hitman and the score is good, but I didn't feel the cool oozing out of it.

Star Rating: ★★

really cool stuff. special mention for the guitar soundtrack, couldn't get enough of it. my only nitpick is the plot device of Claude always being a step ahead of us and we having to figure out what he's thinking. oooh, i wonder what happens next?!!!

Generally fine noir where we follow a hitman around LA before he finally gets to work on his job. The performances were OK, but the "handlers" did a good job with putting enough humor in this to keep it from being sleepy. It gets a little talky at times, and the ending is rather weak, but it's short enough and has enough little moments of brilliance that it still gets an average score.

Meandering but original. Your enjoyment of it will depend on whether you'll find its light touches amusing. Edwards is spot-on as the hitman.

827

Despite the low budget, this taut crime thriller is smartly written, filmed, directed and edited, with a tremendous guitar score from Perry Botkin to boot. Edwards is great as the lead, playing the detached hitman with undeniable coolness, and Pine and Bernardi are good in support. Claude's philosophical musings are most enjoyable, but a little more action, especially in the climax, would have gone a long way.

#822