Michael Keaton serves as director and stars as Knox, a hitman diagnosed with a form of memory loss that accelerates very quickly, in this case weeks. The film’s title cards read Week One, Week Two, etc., as the clock is ticking and Knox has an important job to finish. Knox has a decision to make when the job goes very wrong, and resigning from killing is one of them.
When his son, James Marsden, suddenly appears in an awkward transition that should have had some backstory, he has a big ‘ask’ of his estranged dad. It involves the death of a child-porn sleazy guy who lured his 16-year-old daughter to meet him, and he gets her pregnant. A dying Knox faces a chance for redemption with his son, and he moves ahead full steam. At one point, Keaton says to Al Pacino (Xavier), who plays his boss and serves as his guide to keeping him on track of his mission, “I feel like I’m getting worse every hour.”
Keaton always delivers excellent performances and is very good as a hitman seeking salvation; unfortunately, the script is disjointed with muddled lines strung together haphazardly. Marsden is fantastic as the vengeful dad in one of his best roles to date, as he usually stars in romantic comedies. The banter between dad and son is worth viewing, as is Keaton’s clock-ticking performance.
Director: Michael Keaton,
Screenplay: Gregory Poirier
Cast: Michael Keaton, James Marsden, Al Pacino, Marcia Gay Harden
Runtime: 1h 54m
Sarah Knight Adamson September 12, 2023