Movie Review: Assassin in Love

I have a confession. I have a thing for British actors. Maybe it's because I watch so much TV and film from Britain. Yea, that has to be it.

One of my favorite British actors is Damian Lewis. American viewers would probably know him best from Band of Brothers on HBO; the short-lived TV series, Life; and most recently, Showtime's drama, Homeland. Although I watched Life, I was first introduced to him as Benedick in BBC's Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare Re-Told). He was the perfect Benedick for me, in a clever modern-day retelling of the Shakespeare classic. And when I saw him in the Forsythe Saga, I was surprised I could loathe his character so much. He's a great actor.

Then searching through Netflix, I found a quirky English film he did about five years ago, and it just solidified my thing for Damian. 

In Assassin in Love (aka The Baker) he plays, Milo, a hit man who hides out in a little Welsh village from a fellow hit man, Bjorn (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), who wants him dead. When he gets to the village, Milo is mistaken for the new baker. He's never baked before, but with the help of some cookbooks, he gives it a try.

In one of the opening sequences, Milo gets a call from Leo (the wonderful Michael Gambon), and they have a little conversation while Milo and Bjorn are in the middle of a shoot out. So hilarious.

A local young man, Eggs (yes, his name is Eggs), discovers Milo's secret, and soon, pretty much the whole village knows what he really is (unbeknownst to Milo). There are funny sequences when the villagers think they are hiring Milo to bump off other villagers by asking him to "bake [the villager] a cake," and Milo thinks they really do just want him to bake them cakes.

All this time, Bjorn is going from one tiny Welsh village to another, searching for Milo, and leaving carnage along the way. There's a scene where Bjorn swallows a picked egg whole, and it just makes you hope he did it in just one take.

Kate Ashfield plays Rhiannon, Milo's prospective love interest, and their meet cute is quite unique.  I'll just say that it has to do with a sheep head. When Milo finally asks Rhiannon out, it's in one of the cutest ways I've seen in a film. And there's a great fight at the end that has you laughing and cheering at the same time.

Rated PG-13 for some crude humor, and a tame, messy "love" scene, Assassin in Love is a fun romp with a few crazy hit men and a lot of crazier Welshmen.

Quippy Quotes:

-Do you ever stop asking questions?
-Once they're all answered.

Sharp as a spoon and half as useful.

-You call this normal?
-It's as close as I'm likely to get.