The Assignment

I think Michelle Rodriguez did a great job. Her attitude was that of a man, yet when she started stripping she still enticed! The story line was interesting enough to keep watching and Sigourney did a great job with her superiority complex and cold confident statements. ~give change a chance.

In the special features of the DVD version of "The Assignment," there is an interesting montage of photographs from the behind-the-scenes work on the film, especially the work on make-up with Michelle Rodriguez's character of the hit-man Frank Kitchen. But the still photos do not convey the outstanding work that Rodriguez turned in with the challenge of playing two characters. One is a man, and the other is a woman, who still has the self-identity of a man. The LGBT community may not be thrilled with both the premise and the delivery of this character. Still, the role of Kitchen was compelling and was matched in intensity by the character of Dr. Rachel Jane, as played by Sigourney Weaver. In one of the most fascinating moments of the film, Dr. Jane is delivering a deposition on camera from the mental institution in which she has been consigned for multiple homicides and medical malpractice. While she is sitting upright in the chair, she is wearing a suit and tie. With her short haircut, it is difficult not to assume that Dr. Jane is a man. Another twist in the film occurs with the appropriately named character "Johnnie" (Caitlin Gerard). Johnnie is a nurse and sometime prostitute who becomes infatuated with Frank, and the relationship takes a sharp turn after the gender confirmation surgery performed on Frank. The film becomes overly abstract when Dr. Jane quotes Edgar Allan Poe's essay "The Philosophy of Composition," and seems to believe that she is an "artist," who aspires to create a better world through the deploying her surgical skills in an illegal medical practice. That point flew over the head of the psychiatrist who was examining her, and it will probably fly over the heads of film audiences as well.

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.

I write this review utterly confused. I am tempted to pan this flick on account of bad acting, a weak plot and some outrageously ridiculous make-up stunts . But as I said, I am utterly confused. Could the director actually have intended the movie to be so ? I , for one, do not know. Nevertheless, to begin things Sigourney Weaver ,synonymous with the Aliens franchise , is cast in the movie by the director ( Walter Hill , the producer of the Alien Franchise) an an intelligent surgeon . One can see obvious attempts to play Hannibal Lecter in some sequences. Michelle Rodriguez lives through of one the worst make-up jobs I have seen in this genre. She plays a male-hit-man for the first few minutes in the movie . She looks very funny , though to her credit she doesn't act funny. The action sequences are quite simple and matter of fact. Michelle comes in point the gun and shoots people without much ado. This is a relief because frankly I am tired of watching extended chase sequences shot with unsteady cameras, highly stylized but futile hand to hand combat scenes ( a trend started by the Jason Bourne series ). Nothing much is kept from the audience and another good part about the screenplay is that characters confront each other and say things for they are . Despite some scenes of useless pseudo-philosophical banter involving Weaver, the movie is globally clean of complexity. Even as I write this review I tempted to increase the movie's rating. Just did. I wouldn't advise watching it deliberately. If you are on a flight or want to watch something to pass your time , it may serve the purpose very well.

With 2 strong female leads this should have been a great film. However, both actresses are let down by poor script and direction. With more care, this could have been a 'B' movie classic. As it is, save your time and money and find something else to watch. Extra line to satisfy review criteria.

As a trans women I found this movie to be wildly offensive. The idea that any man can just undergo one surgery and become a beautiful women is so inaccurate and stupid. I just can't. This film is infuriating. No part of it is accurate in any way shape or form. I can't believe Michelle Rodriguez, sigourney Weaver, and Tony shaloub would do this film. I can't believe any studio would give a director money to create it.

I don't understand why it it has scored so low. I really liked it. It was a bit slow to start and a bit complicated. It may have been a bit too confronting for some viewers as it pushed boundaries. overall a good film that was a bit different from the rest. If you are middle America then don't bother to watch it.

Yay, another movie with two of my favorite female performers; Michelle Rodriguez and Sigourney Weaver in the same movie. Actually, I had not read up about this movie prior to getting the chance to sit down and watch it. All that mattered was it was an action/thriller movie with two of the most talented and charismatic of female actresses in Hollywood. "The Assignment" didn't fail to impress. Surely, the storyline was a bit offbeat, but that quickly seeped in and you get with the story and movie quickly enough. And it was rather surreal to see Michelle Rodriguez as a man in the beginning of the movie, but it was done so nicely that it actually looked quite real. Color me impressed. Of course it is a bit redundant to mention that "The Assignment" had a really impressive cast ensemble. And even more needless is it to say that both Michelle Rodriguez and Sigourney Weaver were really impressive in this movie. Rodriguez carried the action and butt-kicking part, while Weaver was superb in a deranged sort of diabolical doctor role. It was also nice to have both Tony Shalhoub and Anthony LaPaglia in the movie, despite having only supportive roles. The story in "The Assignment" was good, although it could have been better with a bit more action. But of course, that is a matter of personal preference. There was a bit too much focus on the drama and storytelling for my liking, so of course I would have liked more action sequences. "The Assignment" is an entertaining movie and I found it to be quite well worth sitting down to watch. However, truthfully, then I think that it is a movie that doesn't really have enough contents to sustain multiple viewings.

I mean for a movie with these good names in it, you would expect something good. I ain't saying perfect, but good. I was going to end the movie somewhere after it started because it was really terrible, looked very cheap and made up. Plot is even worse. The story can get a 3 maybe, but its really bad. Maybe because of the famous faces in it, i don't know, i got some expectations before hand. But still, don't waste your time on it. I just did an account to tell u that.

The Assignment-360P