The Big Hit

Kirk Wong directed this comedy actioner about mild-mannered, beleaguered hitman Melvin Smiley (Mark Wahlberg), who very much wants to be liked. However, the naive Mel is being taken advantage of by both his girlfriends and associates (who cheat him out of his bonuses). Mel and his “Odd Squad” — Cisco (Lou Diamond Phillips), Crunch (Bokeem Woodbine), Vince (Antonio Sabato Jr.), and Gump (Robin Dunne) — work for Paris (Avery Brooks), head of an international crime cartel and a contractor for hit jobs. Mel’s mistress Chantel (Lela Rochon), who views him as a meal ticket, lives rent-free in his house, misspends his money, and is continually thinking of ways to get more from him. Her latest scheme is concocting tales about overdue mortgage and car payments, but she really wants the money to run away with her lover Sergio. Mel and his team head into a big shootout to waste some rival mobsters. One person kills the electricity; the others don night-vision goggles. Melvin handles most of the action, including shooting while bungee-bouncing near a staircase, finally making a spectacular bungee-exit from the top floors of the building just as it explodes in flames. A quick and easy weekend job backfires when their kidnap victim, a rich industrialist’s teenage daughter Keiko Nishi (China Chow), turns out to be the godchild of their boss, crime czar Paris. When Cisco, mastermind of the plan, is summoned by Paris, he manages to shift blame to Mel. Meanwhile, Chantel absconds with Mel’s earnings just as the disapproving parents (Elliott Gould, Lainie Kazan) of Mel’s fiancee Pam (Christina Applegate) are due for a visit. Since Pam gave her parents $50,000 from Mel’s bank account, they’re on their way to thank him and hopefully benefit from another financial windfall. As his professional and domestic woes collide, Mel finds himself dodging bullets while trying to impress his potential in-laws. Throw in an overzealous video-store clerk demanding the return of an overdue tape (King Kong Returns), and it’s not long before Mel’s life starts to unravel., Four expert hit men blast their way into a slave trader’s stronghold, gaining the favor of a powerful mob boss. But when they kidnap a young heiress who happens to be the boss’s goddaughter, they soon become targets themselves. A hard-hitting action-thriller executive produced by John Woo. Mark Wahlberg, Lou Diamond Phillips, Christina Applegate, Antonio Sabato Jr., Lela Rochon., Fast-moving action comedy about a good-natured hit man suffering from insecurity and dealing with a confused romantic life and a treacherous colleague. When his gang kidnaps a girl who turns out to be their boss’s godchild, the hit man, already a victim of treachery in his love life, finds his life coming apart at the seams., Spoof action thriller in which professional hitman Melvin Smiley kidnaps the daughter of a super-billionaire oil magnate, not knowing that her father is now bankrupt and her godfather is his underworld boss. Smiley finds out that life just isn’t easy as he races to survive…, Four hapless criminals take on a kidnapping job that backfires in this comedy., Fast-moving action comedy about a good-natured but insecure hit man. When his gang kidnaps a girl who turns out to be their boss’s godchild, the hit man, already a victim of treachery in his love life, finds his life coming apart at the seams., A beleaguered hit man and his associates kidnap a rich industrialist’s daughter, but their plan backfires when she turns out to be the godchild of their boss.