Film Review: The Gunman

Dir: Pierre Morel

With: Sean Penn, Javier Bardem, Mark Rylance

Runtime: 115 minutes

SEAN Penn once played a version of himself in a film called What Just Happened. Adapted from the delightfully caustic memoir of Art Linson, producer extraordinaire, the book was a cautionary tale about the madness of making movies, the egos of stars and the need for producers to wrestle them to the ground as if they were 300lb over-caffeinated gorillas - especially if said star was also a producer.

Failure to tame such a beast could spell grief for everyone else, especially those who did not fancy standing in the chilly shadow of a scene-hogging star. Penn seems not to have picked up on the moral of the tale judging by The Gunman. One would not say he dominates proceedings, but at one point I half expected him to turn up in the cinema selling his own brand of popcorn. All of which would be fine and forgivable if the film was up to snuff. And therein lies another tale.

The Gunman is adapted from the novel by Jean-Patrick Manchette and directed by Pierre Morel, who helmed the action thrillers Taken and From Paris With Love. He likes to hit the ground running, and does so here. The dateline is the Democratic Republic of Congo, 2006, a country still blighted by chaos despite the supposed end of a sprawling war.

The westerners in the country are divided between aid workers, business people out to make a buck, and the private security operatives who guard both for hefty fees. Penn plays Terrier (by name and nature), one of the bodyguards for hire alongside Javier Bardem's Felix and Wolf Hall's Mark Rylance as Cox. One of the firm's commissions is to watch over a clinic where Annie the doctor (Jasmine Trinca) works. As we see from subsequent scenes, Annie and Terrier, being a little closer than your average doctor and minder, take the template for their relationship from The Bodyguard. He loves her, and Felix has taken quite a shine to the doc too, though he must keep this quiet for now.

Tensions begin to heighten in the country. We know this because various real news anchors, media hussies to a man and woman, turn up to give cod bulletins. Next thing you know, Terrier is given a mission that means he must leave the country tout de suite, leaving Annie behind. Cut to eight years later and Terrier finds he has not entirely left the past behind. Someone wants rid of him, but who and why?

Why oh why is the phrase in mind as the plot trundles on, one convoluted but predictable twist following another. Meanwhile, a newly ripped Penn, muscled and veiny and looking like a Mr Universe contestant who got off the bus at the wrong stop and stumbled into a movie, is rarely off the screen. There is nowhere the camera will not follow him, even into the shower. If the surfeit of topless scenes is not ridiculous enough, Terrier also engages in some risible action sequences, including one where, from a seated position, he fires through a window at a far away enemy. Is he a gunman or a miracle worker?

One had hoped for more from Penn. On form in the likes of Milk, Fair Game, The Tree of Life and This Must be the Place, he is unmissable, a raw, edgy, still dangerous actor who is thrilling to watch. Given his many political interests, a well-informed global thriller about the contracting out of war and its consequences could have been expected. Such a picture, alas, is missing in action here.

With a heavy focus on Penn, his co-stars struggle to get a look in, and even when they do the effect is underwhelming. Trinca has a blink and you will miss her presence, Bardem looks bored, while Rylance, his voice painfully hoarse and the volume kept at a steady low, comes across as Thomas Cromwell without the hat. By the time of the denouement at a Spanish bullfight - very Hemingway - one is more than ready to get one's own hat and coat.

Alison Rowat