Here’s “Killerman” in a nutshell: It’s Jason Bourne, except the lead character’s not an amnesiac spy; he’s an amnesiac money launderer.
Liam Hemsworth, younger brother of Chris Hemsworth (Thor), who is probably best known for divorcing Miley Cyrus, plays a dashingly handsome young man, who apparently had no other options in life but to make drug-money-laundering rounds in a 1970s-level grimy New York City. Maybe his lowlife destiny was foisted upon him by his name: Moe Diamond; it’s so gangster.
Moe buys bricks of gold worth around $600,000 with giant stacks of drug-cash, then he resells the gold, and receives checks in huge dollar amounts—laundry cycle complete. Life is pretty nice; he’s got a drop-dead-gorgeous Colombian girlfriend (Diane Guerrero) and a baby on the way.
Bonked on the Head
Who’s got the drugs? That would be “Debo, the Nigerian” (Coletrane Williams). The deal goes down, but, oops, the drugs-for-cash party is crashed by some dirty cops, and the ensuing car chase/crash bonks Moe mightily upon his noggin, and now he’s Jason Bourne.Skunk emancipates Moe from his hospital bed, trailing IV tubes, because the dirty cops are closing in. Moe still can’t remember who he is when Skunk attempts to jog his memory by showing him some drugs and cash. I mean you’d think that would work, right, because Moe knows drugs and cash?
So off they go to a nightclub: garish strobes, pounding house music, girls—how about some cocaine and some drinking? That’s so good for a concussion. But no. No deal.
Anything Good?
Let’s see. … Nah. Unless you’re in need of a gratuitous violence fix. Had they trimmed the running time by a third and given Moe a character arc that, like Jason Bourne, eventually leads to his roundly denouncing his former profession and starting to elevate his moral character out of the deadly and into the light, I’d almost recommend it.Its main cinematic sin, however, is the pacing. There are too many long stretches of low conflict that, while trying for realism, just lead to boredom. In showbiz, there’s a saying: “Never be boring.”
And the soundtrack might best be described as “Sonata for Plumbers Working in Your House, Banging on Pipes in the Basement.”
Hemsworth, while he looks good in anything he’s in, because, well, he’s very good-looking, looks a little bit bad for taking this role, because its dark nature requires an ability to, intensely, come from a darker soul place, and Hemsworth might be a bit too noble for it. I’m trying to avoid saying he’s less of an accomplished actor than, say, Matt Damon, who could knock this role out of the park, intensity-wise.
It’s been argued that “Killerman” is a throwback to the dark days of male toxicity, but that’s basically like saying, back in the days when rattlesnakes had toxic venom, they killed people. Rattlesnakes have hemotoxic venom, and bad people who deal drugs, launder money, and kill people are toxic. End of story.
In closing, the title turns out to be not as silly as it sounds, but if it’s the silly-sounding title that puts you off seeing this film—I recommend allowing it to do so.