Tuesday, December 5, 2017

TONY ARZENTA: BIG GUNS (1975) **


Alain Delon stars as a hit man who wants to retire.  The Godfather (Richard Conte) won't hear of it, so he puts a hit out on him.  The goons accidentally blow up Delon's wife and kid instead, which sends him on a quest for revenge.

Delon gives a measured performance.  Maybe a bit too measured.  His low-key brand of quiet brooding just isn’t enough to sustain an entire movie.

On the plus side, Tony Arzenta:  Big Guns is a bit more stylish than most of its type.  The hit on the train is especially artsy.  The shadow of The Godfather was still looming large at the time this was made.  As a result, most of the murder scenes have an odd little touch to them (like when a fish tank is shot out when a gangster is gunned down).   

Unfortunately, the pacing is so staid that it never really catches fire.  Certainly, there are scenes that crackle with precision (like the car chase), but the stretches in between those moments are long-winded and more than a little dull.  It’s also capped of by one bummer of an ending.

All the ingredients were there for a solid little revenge thriller.  It’s just that director Duccio (Beyond Justice) Tessari fumbled the formula.  Still, any movie that features both Erika Blanc AND Rosalba Neri can't be all bad.

AKA:  Big Guns.  AKA:  No Way Out.

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