Assassination Tango (2003)

Hey, I like Robert Duvall, and have been a face of his since the mid 1960s. However, this film is nothing more then Duvall's tribute to his Argentine wife, who he met and later married. He is so in love with a woman 41 years younger than himself and her Tango dancing skills, that he spends countless time showing people dancing Tango. He should of made a 30 minute video on Tango, instead of surrounding a nothing story around the dance. A hit man in Argentina falls in love with the Tango. Tango is presented as "Life". Nothing is more important than dancing Tango, drinking whiskey and smoking. And Mr. Duvall as the leading man in an action film just doesn't go over. He's a senior citizen with a pony tail and a wife young enough to be his grand-daughter. Hey! more power to him! Let him use this excuse for a artistic film as a home movie.

One of the things that draws me to Duvall's movies, especially as he has aged, is the realism he tries to inject. Shrek's explanation of being layered like an onion is true of us all, we are not one thing but many. Think of his movie characters from the 15 years and remember the characters that talk to themselves, that repeat themselves in a sort of sing-song cadence, that are hot tempered; he plays reflections of himself. It has been almost 10 years since this movie was released and I still remember a short interview he did from his home in support of the movie. He knew it wasn't going to do well commercially, but he had discovered the intricacies, the balance, the practice required to do it correctly and fell in love with the Tango and wanted to expose it to others. There is a line in the movie that you are never too old to learn, I'm sure he interjected that because he discovered the Tango in his 60's and dances it to this day. The dialog isn't wired tight, nor is the plot; his dispatchment to Buenos Aries for a hit seems contrived at best (they couldn't find a local?) but it puts him at the birthplace of the Tango and to see the masters at work is lovely. The ending credits are run under a couple dancing outside that is breathtaking. The dialog of mostly normal people having normal conversations to me was one of the strong points of the movie; it is to greater effect than line by line recital although it did occasionally drag down the pace for sure. One of the female characters comments on dancing club Tango versus competitive Tango; one you must concentrate on every move and one you soar with the eagles and enjoy. While watching the movie, I recommend the club Tango.

I loved this! There a dark element to it ,but also a very romantic side. I've read Robert Duvall loves to tango in real life, and his dancing in this is so graceful and talented. The dancing in this is exquisite and the women so lovely and natural. They have the most beautiful legs I've ever seen. I was entranced by the dancing and Robert Duvall's performance was, as usual, without fault. I highly recommend it for Robert Duvall fans. The film makes me want to visit Argentina and see in person their beautiful dancing. I read somewhere that Duvall said that as writer, producer and actor he had trouble getting financing from the major studios, so he did it himself. Most of the scenes were filmed in New York for that reason. In my opinion, the final result is stellar!

Hello:I do like the comment about the movie. It is very interesting to notice that a small mistake took place in it. It is not a general from Germany that was shot by Robert Duval. That is an old cliché that every military in my country was a German nazi. Imagine a nazi general amazingly old... He was a standard general of Argentina that might have done bad things between 1976 and 1983 in the times of the Military Dictatorship in my Argentina. I was born in Buenos Aires and the atmosphere of some neighborhoods of it was really fascinating and real. The performances of all the artists are very deep, natural and attractive. Cheers, Sergio.