Ashby

We were able to watch this at home on DVD from our public library. It is funny and quirky with some serious subjects. Set in Virginia, Nat Wolff is new transfer student Ed Wallis, a senior coming from Oregon. Ed is very smart and has intentions of being a star wide receiver on his high school football team but isn't sure he wants to confront the mean coaches and potential teammates. Ed's new next door neighbor is Mickey Rourke, in fine form, as Ashby Holt. They meet right after Ashby has a minor incident behind the wheel of his car, he is diagnosed with a debilitating condition and told he has 3 months to live. No longer allowed to drive he has Ed take him places. When Ed asks what Ashby does for a living he tells him he was a napkin salesman. In fact he has been a professional assassin. The story here is two-fold and each as important as the other. Ed is coming of age, he needs encouragement to confront his fears both on the football field, and with the pretty new friend at school, Emma Roberts as Eloise. And Ashby needs to confront his life of killing, he has a strong faith and doesn't want to die and be sent to Hell. Also good are Sarah Silverman as June Wallis, Ed's needy single mom, and Zachary Knighton as Father Ted, the priest that Ashby confessed to near the end of his life. Interesting movie, we were entertained.

Uneven Blend of "Coming of Age", and Crime Drama that in part is Quite Good, in others Not So Much. The whole Football Thing is a Complete, Clichéd Bore with Clunky and Unfunny Attempts at Humor and Machismo vs Intellect. Mickey Rourke is OK if Not on His A-Game, and Emma Roberts is Fine and maybe the most Interesting Character that is Not a Retread. Matt Wolff is Irritating Most of the Time and this is Basically seen from His Point of View. Worth a Watch but Be Prepared for some Cringe-Inducing Scenes that are just Embarrassing. When Rourke is on the Screen it is Better than Average, but Overall the Movie is Let-Down by some Unfunny Stuff, is All Over the Map in Terms of Story, and the Limitations of a Lead Teen Actor and a Director that can't Seem to Find a Tone that works Consistently.

A bit of a lame and over sentimental story with no memorable moments. Definitely for the younger viewer. Rourke puts in reasonable performance given the poor script and good to see him again.

The basic premise is quite interesting actually. A teenager finding out about his neighbor being a retired CIA assassin feels interesting if it can be developed well. Yet the movie didn't really deliver it. The whole story felt like it's trying very hard to keep itself as far away as possible from becoming an action heavy script. But it was way too far that it bore me down halfway through. There are many plots scattered about the main character, which is not Ashby, whose name is on the movie's title. This makes it strange due to the name being the focus in the title is actually a supporting character instead. The acting overall is decently nice. Nat Wolff did his parts well enough as the timid teenager. I can see now why he was one of the nominees for the next Spiderman movie in 2017. Mickey Rourke did his retired assassin character very nicely. He can grasp the nature of both worlds of the CIA assassin and the retiree and presented the balance well.

High school misfit (Nat Wolff) befriends next-door neighbor who just happens to be terminally ill former CIA assassin (Mickey Rourke). This movie features some solid performances by most of the actors, although the script can't tie all of the overlapping story-lines together in a way director intended. Also, film has occasional heartwarming moments but isn't well-rounded enough. It's not a great film, but for me film was as filled with light humorous tone that did make flick a pleasant experience. 7-/10

Ashby is another coming of age story about a kid and a mentor. Ashby Holt (Mickey Rourke) is a retired CIA assassin who has only 3 months left to live. Ed Wallis (Nat Wolff) is a high school student who meets Ashby while working on an assignment. As they get to know each other more Ed discovers Ashby's CIA service record and Ashby sets out for redemption. Ashby also mentors Ed through his relationship with Eloise (Emma Roberts), getting on the football team, and coming to grips with the fact that Ed's dad is not coming home. Although serious it's also a comedy and a good one at that. Acting is great all around and Rourke stands out especially. Ashby is highly recommended.

It's a wonderful cast and not a bad production either, so I enjoyed the watch, but did not like the film much. The reason is I had seen a few similar flicks which are much better than this in every way. A school kid and his single parents' struggling relationship and their strange neighbour, so it is the concept I'm familiar with, but the story was a bit different. There are a few good scenes in it, but the most of the parts were dominated by the only the nice events like happily ever after kind of stuffs right from the beginning. The title role was played by Mickey Rourke, but it was Nat Wolff's film. The narration should have been much better, I mean it should have had more complicated segments. I even don't know how it got the R rating. The writing and the direction, both should have been a bit bolder. There are some people who liked it a lot and defending it, but I'm neutral. To me it was 50-50, I neither liked nor disliked. But all I wanted was a bit better than this, so I can't judge it for other. I hope you make a right decision on this if you plan to watch it. 5/10

One of those second-string Hollywood efforts of the "artiste' vein where the writer and director are one and the same. Sometime these things take wings and fly (look at THE BIG SHORT where McKay also does double duty) and sometimes they end up in the dustbin of history as merely an interesting effort Not for want of trying. The supporting cast practically picks this film up and carries it on their backs. Rourke is as far from THE WRESTLER as the earth is from the moon, he looks and acts like his own grandfather. Roberts is given very little dialog but presents her character well. Silverman steals every scene she is in, with perfect timing and a twinkle. But you have to choose, get a copy of St. Vincent.

Mickey Rourke is the type of actor that brings his all when he comes to perform. He don't phone it in, which is why it's always a good choice to see a movie he's starting in. Nat Wolff, Emma Roberts, and Sarah Silverman also gave fantastic performances in the film as well, adding to a humorous heart filing story, but Ashby was a lot for a filmmaker to chew on, as Rourke plays a retired CIA agent with one foot in the grave who seeks redemption after meeting and befriending the boy next store. It's not the action packed thrill ride I make it seem like. Not even the action comedy I thought it would be when I brought the ticket. The story focus more on the Nat Wolff's character coming-of-age. I'm not saying this is a bad thing for the movie to turn out to be, but the movie just had too many stories within stories and I don't think it was handled right. It's not as good as the excellent performance Mickey Rourke and his ensemble gives to it.

Went into it expecting a light feel good evening movie with a pretty predictable plot. This kind of old guy mentoring a younger kid/coming of age flick that builds on a quite established formula and for it to be somewhat good you just need to get the basics right. They didn't. Cast. On their own, you have a nice group of quite quality actors. Yet they somehow made them seem forced in the movie,just popping up here and there or sometimes you could kind of see them mouthing words written for them. Perhaps let them ad-lib here and there. Chemistry. The biggest blunder in my opinion by faaar. I wont even touch the other relationships. Looking just at the main one between Ash and Ed, there was nothing there. The dialogue was so horribly contrived, one could see Ed talking about something and Ash reacting either completely different to what he went on to say or forcing himself. There was no natural back and forth. And that insane momentary outburst of I will come and visit every weekend (no spoiler) before establishing for the viewer any real strong connection was abysmally awkward. And in general Ed came off as unlikeable for the most part. Plot. I am not even sure I know what happened. There was way too little on his background for us to really feel for him or understand him better. And the flow of the movie was horrendous. It was jumping but the worst thing was, how long or little they felt they needed to spend on certain parts. We could be looking at Ed in the locker room for 5 mins but one of the focal points with the priest came and went like a bird sh+tting itself. And I still I am not sure if that was not a joke. The conversation between the priest and Ash was pathetic. That was supposed to be a huge dramatic moment or could be, Ash looking for a "ticket" to visit his loved ones. A horrible horrible waste of Mickey's acting talents(I was expecting more like something in the lines of Ray Donovan confessing for the first time- its a TV show). What it ended up being was onthe level of a conversation one has with the cashier. That dialogue pretty much is a perfect example of the whole movie. a)lack of chemistry b)talking past each other c)no real resolution d)just a cheap unprofessional effort. All in all, for a feel good movie with some sincerity and actual atmosphere look elsewhere. Basically I watched it for Mickey because I like him and its why I gave it as much stars as I did, and well, because people did put effort into it. But it just feels packed together in a haste, there is no chemistry between the main actors and the whole ebb and flow of the movie is almost a straight line.