Danger, deception and murder descend upon a sleepy town when a professional assassin accepts a new assignment from his enigmatic boss : It’s been 10yrs since a movie directed by Nick Stagliano has hit our screens, and for me that’s way too long for a guy of his talent : The Virtuoso was also written by Stagliano and hosts a selection of top line performers including Anthony Hopkins, Abbie Cornish, David Morse, Eddie Marsan, Richard Brake and of course the leading star of the movie Cullen Bohannon himself the Irresistible Anson Mount : once the movie starts and I hear Anson’s sleepy narration as he describes his job, a paid killer living in isolation I just knew I was going to love the hell out of this cleverly written, character driven gem that splashes the screen with violence, mystery and twists and turns like the Le Castellet : the cemetery scene with Hopkins Mentor discussing the war with Anson Mount’s Virtuoso is quite breathtaking, haunting and delivered in typical commanding & at times scare style by the legendary Welshman, each character in the film has their own agenda, each has a part to play and the scenes in Rosie’s cafe when the Virtuoso rolls in to town to find his next target is so reminiscent of Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight with filmmaker Stagliano shifting gear leaving you along with the Virtuoso guessing who is white rivers? Once again Abbie Cornish steals each and every scene she’s part of, I just love her work and her character the waitress at Rosie’s Cafe really does help the film’s shift, she injects a purpose and a link to each of the characters and what happens to her is one of the reasons why a sequel/prequel would be awesome to watch : the cafe & motel scenes are effectively shot, the violence is to point considering the film’s storyline and a hitman movie without a dog these days would suck so if you like your thriller’s to contain a devilishly good story, some fine acting and a terrific pay off then please check out Nick Stagliano‘s The Virtuoso you’ll thank me later ★★★★
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