Max is on fire! And his rainbow hair looks delicious. The guy is a spec selling fool. But let’s talk about the last of his pitched films. So Max pitched a bunch of films to different studios. And the studios said yes to only three of them. American Ultra, Victor Frankenstein, and Mr. Right. I’m not sure Me Him Her is one, so I’m leaving it off the list.
And now we are getting the very last of those pitches. Exciting, right? The lesson to take away from that is work on your pitching, my friends. That’s one thing Max has down to a T. His ability to pitch, or verbally tell you the story he has in his crazy mixed up head.
I pitched a script only once to a studio head and for some reason we just ended up talking about Underworld. So yeah, my pitching needs work.
So let’s get into it. How was Mr. Right?
It is a mixed bag.
For one, it felt like it was… remember in the 90’s when EVERYONE was making Tarantino ripoff films? I’m talking about late 90’s when it kind of morphed into this other thing. Films like The Big Hit, Grosse Pointe Blank or The Way of the Gun. Which was 2000, but whatever. Point still stands. Tarantino, but Tarantino light. Like if you wanted The Beatles but got The Beach Boys instead.
Mr. Right feels from ass to elbow like a late 90’s Tarantino morphed hitman film. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Me personally, not a fan. Even though I’ve seen and sought out every wannabe QT film I could find. Even one by Skip Woods, the world’s worst screenwriter working today. Who is also a robot.
So yeah, I got a sweet spot for anything involving hitmen. Maybe QT is to blame, or maybe it has to do with watching Léon: The Professional on repeat. I had a thing for 12 year old Natalie Portman. What, I was 12 too, so it wasn’t creepy.
So back to Mr. Right. You’re starting to see how my pitched devolved into a conversation about Underworld now aren’t you?
Mr. Right stars Sam Rockwell as Francis, a kind of homeless, deranged hitman who instead of killing the people he is contracted to kill, he kills the ones who contract him. Sounds like a terrible business plan to me.
And yes, before you ask, Sam Rockwell does keep up the tradition of dancing in all his movies.
He also wears a red clown nose each time he kills, giving him the moniker Clown Nose. Which again, seems like a bad idea. The last thing you want to do is draw attention to yourself, if your job is to kill people that is.
So we got a hitman that wears a clown nose and kills his clients. Worst hitman ever!
But the thing is, he isn’t. The guy can’t be touched. The guy is pretty much the Terminator. The liquid T-1000 model. He instantly kills anyone who is sent after him.
There are some subtle hints that he was a part of the CIA Ultra program from American Ultra, which I found to be a clever little tip of the hat. In a way, I guess you could possibly see this as a sequel or at least a film set in the same universe.
Hunting Francis is Tim Roth. Normally I’d give you his character name too but the guy doesn’t really have one. He’s kind of a master of disguise. Him and Francis were partners once upon a time, that is until Tim Roth tried to kill him, by blowing up a building with him in it.
That’s how Francis got a little brain damaged. Or at least getting some wires crossed. Wanting to kill evildoers.
Now to introduce the love interest Martha, played by the lovely Anna Kendrick. She’s… how to put this. She’s a crazy person. You don’t really see it at first, but slowly as time goes by, you see she has a screw loose as well.
Her boyfriend of many years comes busting into their apartment, about to have sex when he notices the lovely romantic meal Martha made for him. And even Martha herself. Oopsies.
So now she is stuck in the closet crying her eyes out at her friend’s place. To move her out of the closet, she agrees to let her hang out with some kittens at the shelter she works at.
Messing with the wrong cat, Marth and company end up getting scratched to hell. Now introducing the meet cute.
While wearing cat ears, trying to find bandages at a convenience store, Martha literally bumps into Francis, who like a master ninja, is able to catch all the condoms falling around her.
I’m not sure when the perfect time to bring up this weird slow down power he possesses would be, so I’ll just do it now. Yup, Francis has the ability to slow down time and react to things no normal person can do. That is until he meets Martha, who also possesses that ability. You find this out when he starts playfully throwing knives at her face. The whole time I kept thinking this is just like the Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie! I wasn’t expecting Martha to get PMS cramps when vampires are near or anything, but still.
The two hit it off, they’re both weirdos. And Francis is very straightforward with her, saying yeah, I kill people for a living.
Now at the same time this courtship is happening, the brother of a mobster has come up with the perfect plan to get rid of his brother, played by Cullen Bohannan himself Anson Mount. Who for some reason always looks so much older than he actually is.
Their plan is to kill one of they own, make it seem like the opposing side did it. Wanting to retaliate, he hires Clown Nose, who then turns around killing him instead. Perfect plan!
That is until Bohannan sends a goon in his stead. Now his plans to kill his brother are all kinds of fucked up.
Plan B, they kidnap Martha, hoping Clown Nose will show up and then kill his brother. But unfortunately, Francis doesn’t want to kill anyone anymore because of how poorly Martha reacted to seeing him do it earlier. Now the brothers just have to kill each other themselves.
That’s Mr. Right. There’s a lot to like and some things not to like. I think this film could have benefited from a bit of a higher budget. Especially during the action sequences.
The story is a little muddled at times, like there are really three different plots going on at the same time. Max handles it well, but one story will always be the weaker story. And unfortunately it happened to be the main crux of the story. The brother wanting to kill his mob boss brother.
Honestly, I think this would have worked better if it just focused on the romance and Tim Roth’s character hunting him down. The shit with the brothers felt unneeded. Like he didn’t trust what he had, so he added an extra element.
Or maybe he felt it was a bit too much like American Ultra. I don’t know!
Either way, you get a pretty cool, I hate saying this word but “Hip” hitman film with likable characters, crazy as they all might be. It’s worth a viewing.
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