The Merry Gentleman

... it had the potential to work. Combine it with an actor who apparently wants to make one of those films you can tell is specifically created for Oscar award nomination and ends up being cliché and simplistic and you get cliché, simplistic, and unrealistic. At times it did work. But I think this is a case where the director (also a primary actor in the story) got himself too involved and lost perspective. You could also say this mixes the various sniper/killer films popular at the moment with an xmas film. Either way, the end product would have benefited immensely from someone reviewing it who wasn't personally involved in the film and a bit more plot development.

"I'd say we've been pretty good for one another," Kate (Kelly Macdonald) Well, not quite, but that statement is consistent with naïve young Brit Kate's cluelessness since she's talking to an accomplished assassin, Frank (Michael Keaton), whom she recently befriended and believes to be a good Samaritan. But that sense of being just a bit out of it is characteristic of Michael Keaton's first directorial effort, The Merry Gentleman, as well. I could feel Keaton struggling to offer a thriller in the David Mamet tradition (without his caustic language) with minimalist dialogue and exposition and a concentration on character. Without Mamet's poetic language, Keaton is left with spare dialogue that barely explains the motivations for abuse and murder involving more than one character. It is, however, mostly Kate I wanted to know, and I was not fulfilled because of her limited capacity to speak loud and clear. Caught as she is between the growing interest of Detective Dave Murcheson (Tom Bastounes) and Frank, and her abusive husband, this woman causes a great deal of trouble by just being beautiful, caring, and out there. And ignorant of her charm and the kind of rogue male she is attracted to. Among the several motifs Keaton rams through, the idea of "good" appears regularly. Calling someone good who is not is a cheap way of doubling up on irony but doing little to expand the meaning of "bad." Most of all I am disappointed in the ending. Some closure is necessary in most fiction. Not a bad film; just not great.

source: The Merry Gentleman

As the movie opens we see a brief scene of a man and woman in the bedroom, and it is clear that he has some anger issues, and at least this time, probably not the first, he has hit her. Then we see her packing some things and leaving. He will eventually track her down, after a long time, and this plays into the overall thrust of the story. Kelly Macdonald is the young woman, Kate Frazier. She starts a new life, a new job, and a new small apartment. Seems everyone asks about where she got the black eye, and each explanation is different. It is nearing Christmastime, and as she exits work one evening looks up at the snow and sees a man standing on the edge of the top of the building across the street. Frightened for him she yells, and he jumps to safety on the roof. She doesn't think too much of it until the police come to talk to her, someone in her building had been shot about that time (we actually see the hit, he called the man's phone to get him at the right place for a clean shot) and they suspected it might have been the same man she saw (it was). Michael Keaton is Frank Logan, who works as a tailor in an upscale shop, but his main occupation is contract hit man. He had seen Kate that night through his rifle scope, perhaps was touched that she called to him, and unknown to her he looked her up. They actually met when she had fallen at the entrance to her building and was trapped under her too-big Christmas tree. He helped her and soon they became good friends. His skill serves well when Kate's abusive husband finally tracks her down. This isn't a very savory topic, but overall Keaton and Macdonald make this a drama a cut above most. The police suspect, and tell her, but she never finds out for sure who he is, and then he disappears.

I really enjoyed this movie for a couple of reasons. Michael Keaton played a really good hit man, and the movie style I thought was a throwback to the 1950's era movies that were crime related. The movie had that very dark and moody style, with a great edge to the movie style. It keeps you anticipating what is going to happen next. The movie also had a plot with the damsel in distress running away from her abusive relationship. You just knew her ex-lover was going to cross paths with her again at some point. I also thought Michael Keaton did an admirable job of directing himself in the movie, and providing his cast with opportunities to share the stage with him and also have a good performance. Bobby Cannavale played the frustrated and sometimes violent ex-lover, with a troubled soul. On the down side, the movie was a bit slow during certain parts, but the ending was better than I actually expected and was a nice surprise. This movie is well worth a watch and I would recommend seeing it.

Kelly MacDonald has that quality about her that pulls the male ego into wanting to protect her. I felt it in "The Girl in the Cafe," and I'll never forgive Javier Bardem for keeping his vow in "No Country for Old Men." "The Merry Gentleman" could be titled "Who will Protect Kelly?" Will it be the cop, the hit-man (Keaton) even her "born-again" husband?-they all want to protect her. Her husband is insane, and the cop offends her every time he speaks. Cold-blooded murderer Logan (Keaton), seems to win her heart with coughs, wheezing and repeating twice "I found a girl under a Xmas tree." Keaton's minimalist dialog even has him wheezing for her to quit talking and leave the hospital. If he charms her with any more silver-tongued devilry than that, it must have been edited out. I thought the ending worked; the part that was missing was 'What did she see in him?'

"A stunning surprise" and a "Masterpeice"? More like "Mediocre"! It was slow paced but I give it credit that it wasn't your ordinary Hollywood movie that would've had the characters jumping into bed, or massive explosions to buildings and cars. The ending was the worst. Having Michael Keaton's character just walk off into the sunset left too many questions unanswered, which I hate in a movie that takes the cheap way out. What happened with Kate? Did she and Detective Murcheson finally sit down for a complete dinner? Did Detective Murcheson gather enough evidence to have a warrant issued for Frank Logan? Guess I'm glad we only spend 99 cents on this, purchasing the movie from a Blockbuster going out of business sale.

Frank Logan (Keaton) is a hit man and he suspects Kate (MacDonald) can place him at the scene of his last hit. This is slow moving, but if you look at it as a cat and mouse game it's a non-issue. The thing that really saves this movie is Kate's Scottish accent. You cannot get enough of it regardless or what else is going on. Okay, the movie would save itself anyway, but when Kate speaks, you listen because you really don't know anything about her, and that accent is pure heaven. Maybe it is the accent. The title is somewhat misleading. There is nothing merry about Frank Logan as you will see. Merry is used because it is Christmas time and he does act the part of a gentleman. See? Seems it is all a matter of some misdirection, but only in the title, not in the story. This is Michael Keaton's first attempt at directing and since I enjoyed the movie, I'd say he did a good job of it. He brought the right amount of suspense and tension throughout the story. And, to have selected Kelly MacDonald to play Kate, with that accent is pure genius. I guess you can tell I really like the Scottish accent. Violence: Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Language: Yes, some

No captions' flat affect unsatisfying ending "The Merry Gentleman" is a very strange film. It also is a very unsatisfying one because I liked so much of it and the film's ending really did not deliver. The film is about an unlikely friendship that develops between a suicidal assassin (Michael Keaton) and a woman, Kate (Kelly MacDonald), who has been abused by her partner. What links them is tenuous and the ending really, really not at all what I'd hoped. This is a real shame, as the movie, up until that point, has terrific and highly original. It also never really delved into Keaton's character well enough. His motivation, in particular, is confusing to say the least. Overall, had the ending been better, this would have been an excellent film. As it is, the story could really have used a bit of work...though there is still enough to this story to make it worth seeing.

This very simple tale aims for a feel similar to a Coen brothers noir-ish film but the actual craftsmanship and writing is not up to the task. The premise is that of two loners who have nothing in common but nonetheless bound together. One character is a hit-man, played by director Michael Keaton. The other is Kate, a woman fleeing a past of abuse, played by Kelly MacDonald. Unfortunately, there's nothing here to rejuvenate the classic elements such as the nice-guy- hit-man who is poorly socialized. The quirky relationships falls a little flat compared to other movies of the genre. Everybody will root for poor Kate to get her life on track after a bad relationship, I couldn't help but feel it all tied up a little nicely for her. There's just nothing terribly interesting about this plot or the characters to make me care