It’s nightfall in Seattle, and and tightly wound hitman Jonas Arbor (Cuba Gooding Jr.) has just a bottle of booze and a crappy television set to keep him company.  The scars that adorn his back were earned by years of service performing covert operations for the government, but unfortunately Jonas has gone rogue.  Saddled with a persistent cough and presumably tons of bad memories, Jonas is looking for a fix.

He meets frustrated businessman Allan Campbell (tough guy Cole Hauser, playing against type) at a dive bar, where after several rounds of drinks Allan recounts his disastrous day: his boss didn’t promote him and his wife (Ginny Weirick) is canoodling with his best friend.  Already operating on a self-imposed death wish, Jonas offers up his services to Allan, free of charge.  Believing his drinking buddy is playing a joke, Allan writes the names of five people he wants killed, including his cheating spouse.  Within hours, one of the bystanders on the hit list is dead, leaving Allan a prime suspect in the murder.

Running at just 90 minutes, The Hit List’s strengths rest on the sheer simplicity of the plot and Gooding Jr.’s performance.  The Oscar winner could have completely mailed in the role, especially since The Hit List is a low budget, under the radar feature, but he actually plays the part with gusto.  Plus, when Gooding Jr. spits out such cockamamie lines as “A trigger is like a fast forward button, I just skip to the end credits of other people’s lives,” you know he must be having a modicum of fun.  Jonas is determined to kill everyone on the list, even if it requires offing a healthy share of cops in the process.  Hauser, who was seen this TV season on the canceled freshman NBC series Chase, also does believable work as the sad sack fated for a final showdown with the assassin.

Unfortunately, the Blu-ray has no special features to speak of, and some kind of audio commentary would have been welcome from the actors or even director William Kaufman. But The Hit List, with its high body count and breakneck action, is worth a look if B-movie action is your cup of tea.  And yes, it is better than Snow Dogs.

Find Us On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com

Follow Us On Twitter: http://twitter.com/hollyoutbreak

posted by Greg Srisavasdi