See it at the Movies

THE GUNMAN

Joyce and Don Fowler
Posted 3/26/15

* * ½

Bad guy seeking atonement)

Sean Penn plays Jim Terrier, an assassin who kills a Congolese mining official who is trying to close down a huge mining corporation he works for.

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See it at the Movies

THE GUNMAN

Posted

* * ½

Bad guy seeking atonement

Sean Penn plays Jim Terrier, an assassin who kills a Congolese mining official who is trying to close down a huge mining corporation he works for.

Switch to eight years later. Jim and his girlfriend (Jasmine Trinca) are working for a humanitarian organization that is bringing water to the Congo villages. Three assassins show up to kill him and he tries to find out who sent them and why. He’s a good guy now. All he did was kill a government official. Now he’s digging wells for poor Africans. He’s really sorry for what he did.

Poor Jim has these awful headaches, diagnosed as “post concussion syndrome.” They also make him dizzy and forgetful, but he’s still able to kill or maim anyone who tries to kill him. They chase him all over London, Barcelona and Gibraltar, shooting at him, blowing up buildings, chasing him through alleys, and capturing his girlfriend.

Oh yes, in the eight years after he left the Congo, she marries his rival (Javier Bardem), but still has the hots for Jim.

It all comes down to a final battle in a bullring that is kind of exciting, if a bit unbelievable.

Will Jim survive? How about his girlfriend? And can he atone for his sins?

Hey, this is Sean Penn, superhero and humanitarian!

Rated R, with lots of bloody violence and some sex.

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