Portrait of a Hitman (1979)

Watched this movie last night, didn't expect the production quality to be so poor. Cheaply made, amateurish editing.But man, this storyline/plot is actually really cool...it's got a great deal of potential, I think. But ol' Jack as "JimBuck" - I wrote it that way intentionally, because that's how Jack says it...like it's one word. He doesn't say "My name is Jim Buck" like a regular person, he says "My name is JimBuck," like it's just one word. Hilarious.The only reason I watched this was for Jack Palance, and it was worth watching it to see him. What else, what else...I think that about covers it. A low budget affair from 1977 that could be really engrossing and cool if remade today with a talented writer and director. The storyline is great - built, of course, on an interesting internal conflict (loyalty to a friend/humanity vs obligation to employer) and the required external conflicts (good guys vs the bad guys). Put a smokin' hot chick in there (adds yet another layer to the conflict), and you've got a movie.By the way, if anyone reads this and actually does make a movie out of it, is there any way I can get in on that?jacobnunnally.blogspot.com3/10

According to IMDb, this film wasn't released until 1984, seven years after its completion. When you watch Portrait of a Hit Man (as the title appears on screen), you'll understand why it sat in the can so long. Jack Palance delivers one of his anguished non-performance performances as Jim Buck, a professional gunman (and amateur painter) hired by Max Andreotti (a svelte Rod Steiger) to rub out Dr. Bob Michaels (Bo Svenson). Problem: Jim and Bob are best buds from way back, and Jim is most reluctant to carry out the hit. There's a ton of navel-gazing, some very boring sex scenes, an embarrassing turn from Richard Roundtree as a Jamaican drug dealer, some Asian wisdom offered by Philip Ahn, and even a brief appearance by legendary singing cowboy Herb Jeffries, who wisely chose to hang up his acting spurs after appearing in this film.

This movie sounded to me exciting because I like films about hitman and stuff like this. But his film has a boring story and I only watched it half before I fell asleep

I rented this movie with my girlfriend years ago. I liked the cover at the video store. Unfortuanately that and the name were the only good aspects of this film. The first 2 minutes were good, and the rest of this film is one horrible ride. If he UN arm inspectors found this movie it would be labeled a weapon of mass destruction. I remember watching this films years earlier with my dad; I for got about it because the film was that bad and I only watched half of it. The second time I watched this insomnia cure the second half made me remember this film forever. At least this time I got to cuddle with my girlfriend. This film is incredibly awful, and will haunt your memory. Not too many films merit a 1 out of 10