The Assignment (2016)

I totally agree that this film is very unusual and not so surprising from Walter Hill, a big specialist in grabe B pictures, but a high rank B movies, not garbage films at all. This story is interesting on many points, but is far from being flawless. But topics that take risks are never flawless. I did not appreciate this much. The editing could have been a little simpler; that's my own opinion. But seeing Sigourney Weaver as the heavy of the feature is also a rather good surprise.

The Assignment (2016) *** (out of 4)Frank Kitchen (Michelle Rodriguez) is a hitman who pulls a job not knowing what impact it will have on him. It turns out that he murdered the brother of a doctor (Sigourney Weaver) who gets her revenge by kidnapping Frank and turning him into a woman. Now, as a woman, Frank must seek revenge against those who did this to him.Walter Hill got back into the director's chair with THE ASSIGNMENT, which is certainly one of the biggest WTF movies to come along in a very long time. Seriously, this here is something you would have expected in the 1970s but not in today's political climate. Sure enough, the film was released to all sorts of controversy with various groups being offended by the story. I must admit that there are a lot of flaws with the movie but at the same time it's so darn weird that I couldn't help but be entertained.As I said, this is a very strange movie on a lot of levels but if you've ever wanted to see Rodriguez with a beard and a dick then you'll love it. Yes, you actually see that as the film is quite sleazy in its own right and that includes a lot of nudity once the "female" side comes out. The movie is somewhat brave in what it attempts to do and I guess you could say that Rodriguez gives a rather brave performance. Not only is she constantly naked on the screen but this wasn't the easiest roles to pull off. She certainly handles the action quite nicely and she's strong enough to hold your attention throughout.I think the biggest problem with the film are the scenes inside the mental hospital where the Weaver character is telling her story. These scenes really take away from the revenge side of things and there's just no doubt that these moments aren't nearly as entertaining as the stuff with the hitman seeking revenge. The action scenes are directed quite nicely by Hill and it was great seeing him add some style back to his films. The movie looks and sounds quite good but it does start to lose its story as it moves along.THE ASSIGNMENT isn't a film meant for everyone but if you like weird movies you should find it entertaining.

Overall this is a must see movie and terribly underrated. I don't have attention deficit disorder and was able to find awesome entertainment in this piece of work. When I saw her (Michelle) beautiful face, I had to know her taste in scripts and how she held up to being queen of her own scene. Truthfully, I found it well ahead of it's time with plot, make-up, set design. First, there is Michelle who is so beautiful, no make-up would make anyone believe she's male-which made the movie soo juicy and riveting as a strong actress who faced this gender thing as oppose to the many many many men who do the same. Hence, "Eddie Redmayne Plays Transgender Woman and Pioneer in New Film— See the 1st Photo of the Oscar Winner in Character!" (Heller, 2015) I hope more of these roles are invented as more people will be interested with other than identity crisis Secondly,the plot led and held us thrill seekers by portraying a gun slinging hit person, who obviously didn't have an identity crisis or crying spells throughout the movie.Third, Both leading ladies weren't there to fight f__king aliens or race cars. Mrs. Weaver can keep anyone entertained with her the marvelous acting skills and someone's superb writing abilities. Rodriquez held my attention with her agenda and how she would conform into her new identity while avenging her enemy. At the same time both women face life struggles with sexual and social awareness's/awkwardness.Finally, Less is more. Rodriguez did not need to pull off being a man or a woman with make-up or mannerisms though well done, that was the beauty in the entire movie attuned with her talents and skills. Mrs. Weaver's arrogance and brilliance along with Rodriguez's compassion for her girlfriend. Yes, I have some constructive criticism-Elements that lead to a revenge type plot where this is typical in any movie, but adding more symmetry of the hit-man's background that was spoken in Weaver's therapy sessions could have given more foundation to Rodriguez's character-therefore giving the audience more scope, relations, and sentiment towards Rodriquez.

"Extreme Prejudice" director Walter Hill's most audacious crime thriller "The Assignment" might eventually emerge as a cult item after the controversial LGBT criticism about it dies down. This exploitative Canadian independent film release concerns a disgruntled female plastic surgeon who turns a professional, pistol-packing assassin into a female without either his knowledge or consent. "You've been a very bad man," Dr. Rachel Jane (Sigourney Weaver of "Alien") condemns homicidal Frank Kitchen (Michelle Rodriguez of "The Fast and The Furious"), in an audio recording left behind for our protagonist to listen to after his surgery. "This is your opportunity for redemption." Basically, Dr. Jane radically changed Frank because the latter had iced her worthless, cocaine-snorting, playboy brother, Sebastian (Adrian Hough of "Underworld: Evolution"), who was drowning in debt to the Miami mob. Dr. Jane had given her brother enough money to liquidate his gambling debts, but he recklessly blew every cent. After her brother's demise, she spent a small fortune tracking down the elusive Kitchen. Improbably, Jane believed the sex change would make Kitchen into a better woman than a man! After our angry protagonist recovered sufficiently from this shocking ordeal, he sets out to exact a terrible toll on those dastards who had a hand in the appalling sex change operation that turned his life upside-down. Along the way, Kitchen realizes that a long-time, criminal accomplice, Honest John Hartunian (Anthony LaPaglia of "Empire Records"), whom he had trusted, sold him out to Jane. When everything becomes clear to him, Kitchen realizes an attractive nurse, Johnnie (Caitlin Gerard of "Magic Mike"), with whom he had a one-night tumble, was also a part of the set-up.While the hopelessly frustrated Kitchen contends with his own quandary, the megalomaniacal surgeon, Dr. Jane (Sigourney Weaver of "Alien"), who quotes Shakespeare and considers herself an artist, has been locked up at the Mendocino Psychiatric Facility in Northern California. Psychiatrist Dr. Ralph Galen (Tony Shalhoub of "Men in Black") must evaluate Jane, lashed up in a straitjacket for her own good, to determine if she is competent to stand trial for a massacre at her clandestine surgical facility. After receiving an anonymous tip, the San Francisco Police had taken Jane into custody. They found the good doctor unconscious on her own operating table surrounded by four bullet-riddled men. Jane's male surgical nurse and sometime lover Albert Becker (Ken Kirzinger of "Freddy vs. Jason") lies dead with a pistol in his hand. Ballistics matched the slugs from Becker's gun that he had used to kill not only the three men, but also to wound Jane in the shoulder. Meanwhile, Kitchen sets out to find Dr. Jane after gunning down several other criminal contacts that he suspects may have conspired with Jane. Kitchen's luck runs out initially when she confronts Jane. Jane's henchmen take our transgendered heroine captive, but they fail to frisk her. Ultimately, this proves to be a fatal mistake. Meantime, Dr. Galen refuses to believe Dr. Jane's alibi that Kitchen shot her three bodyguards, Albert, and wounded her. A major point of contention between them is the existence of Frank Kitchen. Galen doesn't believe the man exists, despite Dr. Jane's assertions to the contrary. Instead, he is convinced Jane "invented Frank Kitchen to protect the memory of Albert Becker." Predictably, "The Assignment" provides Hill with an opportunity to orchestrate several indiscriminate, B-movie fire-fights that easily rack up a double-digit body count. Apart from its bizarre premise, this gritty exercise in murder and mayhem resembles one of Walter Hill's brutal, old-fashioned, shoot'em ups. Hill has helmed classics like "48 HRS," "Hard Times," "Last Man Standing," "Bullet to the Head," "The Driver" and "Red Heat." Unfortunately, despite gunfire galore and the glee with which our merciless protagonist devastates the opposition, Michelle Rodriguez is not entirely convincing as a guy. The biggest liability is the bogus beard that looks like it has been attached to her face with glue. Meanwhile, Hill achieves more success with computer-generated-imagery. Rodriguez cavorts about in private during an early scene as a nude dude displaying a hairy chest and abundant male genitalia. Not surprisingly, Rodriguez makes the most of this outlandish role, and she finds herself trapped in some confrontations that are quite entertaining in a pulp fiction way. Sigourney Weaver has a field day as the cold-as-a-scalpel surgeon who castrated Frank. Deep down, Weaver's Dr. Jane is thoroughly despicable; she would have been in good company with Hitler's demented surgeons who exploited Jewish prisoners in the Nazi death camps. Categorically, Weaver steals the show with her nuanced performance and detailed character. All the other characters blend into the background with British Columbia locales that have been dressed to resemble San Francisco. "The Assignment" evokes memories of an earlier Hill epic "Johnny Handsome." In that movie, a deformed gangster went under the knife, and the surgical procedure changed him into a nice guy. Inevitably, his evil past came back to haunt him. For the record, "Turk 182" scenarist Denis Hamill dreamed up "The Assignment" back in 1978, and Hill rewrote it many times before finally making it. Ironically, during the first few minutes of the film, we hear Kitchen confess that he had killed a lot of people during his time, and his comeuppance (the sex-change operation) was preferable to death. Admittedly, Hill and Hamill have a tough time making this sex change gimmick work. Nothing about Kitchen's discovery about his castration is played strictly for laughs, and Hill and Hamill keep "The Assignment" from degenerating into lowest-common-denominator camp. Whether you're either transgendered or a traditional enthusiast of hard-boiled thrillers, "The Assignment" (talk about a generic title) will take you by surprise, if it doesn't ultimately alienate you. Obviously, this is just the kind of movie that few people would want to see, and perhaps least of all want others to know that they had seen. For fans of 75-year old writer & director Walter Hill, "The Assignment" qualifies as a departure from the norm that delivers.