The Merry Gentleman

Low key hitman melodrama, a little holiday thrown in
Michael Keaton has one of the best hit man faces out there, and I enjoyed watching this slow paced tale unfold and in the end, embrace a certain ambiguity.

The story follows the unlikely crossing of paths between a professional hitter and a Scottish secretary who inadvertently sees Keaton after he has sniped someone. We never get too much background on him, nor why he does anything that he does, but we do get a relationship development theme. What made this stand out was the writing regarding the police, they were shown as actually figuring out the mysteries surrounding the story (instead of them being oblivious and looking dumb). Not the most conclusive ending for the characters, but I liked it.

The DVD clarity is good and the sound is adequate; the supplement is a 16 minute making-of that had some good behind the scenes about Keaton's thought process on both sides of the camera. 3.5 for the film and DVD quality, .5 for the supplement.

Michael Keaton, the Sleeping Giant
Those who know and admire Keaton's work will long have considered him both underappreciated and diverse. From madcap comedies like Night Shift and Mr. Mom to harrowing dramas like Clean & Sober and Game 6, Keaton is one of our most valued cinematic resources all but ignored in modern Hollywood. And yet, he was somehow able to secure financing and helm this touching character study about loneliness. It's a quiet film, the kind you have to lean into and meet on its own terms. While it may involve a hit man, an abused woman and a meddlesome policeman, The Merry Gentleman is independent to the bone. The pacing is very deliberate and static. And while it may not be for everyone, if you favor stillness over bombast, character over action, you should be pleasantly surprised by it.

A confused yet moderately entertaining Christmas noir.
The title of The Merry Gentleman, Michael Keaton's directorial debut, comes from the beginning of the film when hitman Keaton helps secretary Kelly MacDonald, who has fallen under a Christmas Tree she is trying to bring into her apartment. Earlier, MacDonald saw Keaton standing on the ledge of a building across from her office. Keaton had just made a "hit" and was contemplating suicide. It turns out that Keaton is a tailor who kills people on the side and hates himself for it. Does he show up at MacDonald's door to kill her because she might be able to identify him? After helping her bring her tree into her apartment, he walks away, only to return the next day to visit her. Unfortunately, he has pneumonia and falls senseless the ground outside her apartment. MacDonald finds him, gets him to the hospital, and a beautiful friendship is born -- on Christmas Day, no less.

All this described action takes place in the first few minutes of the movie. The rest of the film...

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