A Pain In The Ass
- Year:2009
- Rating:M
- Director:Francis Veber
- Cast:Richard Berry, Pascal Elbe, Virginie Ledoyen, Patrick Timsit
- Release Date:April 09, 2009
- Distributor:Sharmill
- Running time:83 minutes
- Film Worth:$9.00
- FILMINK rates movies out of $20 - the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
“…intermittently funny…”
This underwhelming comedy of errors has one faint distinction: it's strangely pitched, somewhere between deadpan and slapstick absurdity. It's a Gallic Get Smart, but with the great gags replaced by treacly sentiment. To be fair, the annoying elements are largely intentional.
The titular "pain in the ass", one Francois Pignon (Patrick Timsit), is a whining photographer who bores everyone who can't escape about the fact that his wife has left him (to add insult to injury, she's sleeping with her psychiatrist). Most of the farcical plot unfolds in the hotel in which Pignon is contemplating suicide, and revolves around his accidental "relationship" with the guy in the next room, Ralph Milan (Richard Berry). Ralph is not just any hotel guest. He's a professional hitman, and has checked in with the express purpose of carrying out his latest hit from his hotel window. To be more specific, his task is to shoot a (highly protected) star witness whose motorcade will be passing by en route to a court appearance. Unfortunately for Ralph, these plans are interrupted by the need to stop Pignon from topping himself.
Hitman comedies have become a veritable sub-genre, especially ones in which the assassin has a kernel of redemptive decency - it would be refreshing to see one in which he was irredeemably callous. That said, Richard Berry is the nearest thing to a memorable performance in this forgettable romp, and A Pain In The Ass picks up slightly towards the end. Alas, not for a minute does the viewer care about any character, though admittedly it's mildly diverting and intermittently funny - and occasionally blackly or incongruously so.
