Affable hit man Melvin Smiley is constantly being scammed by his cutthroat colleagues in the life-ending business. So, when he and his fellow assassins kidnap the daughter of an electronics mogul, it's naturally Melvin who takes the fall when their prime score turns sour. That's because the girl is the goddaughter of the gang's ruthless crime boss. But, even while dodging bullets, Melvin has to keep his real job secret from his unsuspecting fiancée, Pam.
Acting
Wahlberg's sweaty desperation meets Lou Diamond Phillips' unhinged Cisco.
Direction
Hong Kong action sensibility crashes into American 90s excess.
Editing
Rapid-fire cuts that somehow make domestic arguments feel like gunfights.
Director
Kirk Wong Chi-Keung
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was Hong Kong director Kirk Wong's only American film; he returned to Hong Kong cinema immediately after, reportedly frustrated with studio interference.
The video store subplot—where hitmen argue about film rentals—now plays as elegy for physical media culture, weirdly poignant given the movie's own obscurity.
US
