Wild Target Blu-ray delivers great video and audio in this enjoyable Blu-ray release
Victor Maynard is a middle-aged, solitary assassin, who lives to please his formidable mother, despite his own peerless reputation for lethal efficiency. His professional routine is interrupted when he finds himself drawn to one of his intended victims, Rose. He spares her life, unexpectedly acquiring in the process a young apprentice, Tony.
After reading some of the scathing reviews surrounding Wild Target's brief American theatrical run, I was anticipating a disaster. New York
Observer critic Rex Reed even called it "dead on arrival," and a "benign and labored little British comedy I didn't find remotely amusing." I finally got to
see the film yesterday, and all I can say to these disparaging critics is, "Why so serious?" Perhaps I was just in the right, expectation-free mood, but I
found Wild Target to be almost perfectly droll, equal parts dry-as-gin wit and sweet silliness. Sure, there's a lot about the movie that doesn't
make much plausible sense, and there are contrivances that would absolutely cripple a more dramatic film, but Wild Target harkens back to
the screwball heist comedies of yore, when making the audience laugh was more important than constructing an airtight plot.
Lanky thespian Bill Nighy is cast as Victor Maynard, a supremely anal-retentive professional assassin in the midst of a mid-life crisis. His overbearing
mother, Louisa (Eileen Atkins), suspects he might be gay—she read something about boys who spend too much time with mommy—and she's
concerned that if he doesn't procreate soon, there will be no one to continue the family's generational killer-for-hire business. Victor, though, seems
almost completely asexual; he's so devoted his life to murdering—garnering a reputation as the best in the biz—that he's never given much thought
to love. Of course, that's all about to change. When impetuous small-time crook Ruth (Emily Blunt) sells a Rembrandt forgery to suave big-shot art
thief Ferguson (Rupert Everett)—making off with nine hundred thousand pounds in cash—Victor is called in to track Ruth and put a bullet in her
brain.
He must be getting soft, though, because he finds himself inexplicably drawn to her. She's everything that he's not—impulsive, reckless, truly alive—
and when a second hit man tries to take her out in a parking garage, Victor offs the guy against his better judgment and comes to her rescue. The
trois in this ménage is Tony (Harry Potter's Rupert Grint), a young ginger drifter who saves both of their asses when he
stops yet another thug from pulling the trigger. Ruth and Tony look to Victor for protection after this ordeal—he lies and tells them he's a private eye
—and together, after a quick stop in a posh hotel, the three flee London for the supposed safety of Victor's countryside estate. Little do they know
that Ferguson has hired Victor's nemesis, Dixon (Martin Freeman, soon to play Bilbo Baggins)—a smugly smiling assassin with a bad set of gleaming
white veneers—to track them down.
Based on the farcical 1993 French film Cible Emouvante, Wild Target is a loose-limbed parody of a crime caper, and director
Jonathan Lynn—best known in the U.K. for his BBC series Yes, Minister, and in the U.S. for My Cousin Vinnie and The Whole
Nine Yards—skirts the story's gaps in logic and construction by focusing more intently on the main characters and their collective desire to
belong to some sort of family. When the three fugitives arrive at Victor's stately manor—where all the furniture is covered in plastic sheeting—the
criminal antics cease for a bit, but the psychological humor is just getting started. Victor is so out-of-touch with himself that even he doesn't
know if he's gay or not, a situation Lynn and Nighy return to often to mine for subtle jokes. Victor hires Tony on as an apprentice of sorts—clearly
seeing this as a way to possibly ensure the family legacy—but as Tony, shirtless, practices swinging a samurai sword out in the garden, Victor begins
to wonder if he may actually have feelings for him. Ultimately, the film goes a more tradition route—it's no spoiler to reveal that Victor discovers his
muddled emotions are actually for Ruth—but there's just enough early ambiguity to keep things interesting.
Wild Target is essentially organized as a breezily strung-together series of comic interludes, and while some of the scenes sag—usually the
ones with Ferguson and his lackeys—most of the time the film glides along merrily on its taut verbal and visual wit. Typical of British comedies, you
can expect a healthy amount of innuendo—see Victor vigorously polishing the barrel of his gun while listening to Ruth make sex sounds—and
perhaps in an homage to Monty Python, there are several funny references to a dead parrot. The lead performers are all in fine form. Emily Blunt is
like a better, British version of Zooey Deschanel—flirty, too indie-cute by half, and impeccably dressed—and as Ruth she gets a welcome, liberating
break from her usual roles in Victorian-era prestige costume dramas. Likewise, it's good to see Rupert Grint, after a decade as Harry Potter's right-
hand-man Ron Weasely, outside the hallowed halls of Hogwarts for a change. He's got real chops that are wasted on mere wizardry. Of course, Bill
Nighy does constipated English reserve better than anyone, and here he's as uptight as they come, parlaying his scarecrow-like physique into the
stiffest slapstick imaginable. Together, they form a love triangle of acutely comic angles.
Wild Target hits its mark on Blu-ray, with a satisfying 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer. Granted, this won't be the first disc you'll pull out to demo
your HDTV, but the movie looks natural and filmic, exhibiting no signs of excess noise reduction, edge enhancement, or other unnecessary forms of
digital, post-telecine tinkering. While the disc never displays the consistently exemplary clarity of top-tier Blu-ray release—it looks a little soft at times—
fine detail, overall, is certainly strong enough, revealing skin and cloth textures, and rendering background objects with ease. The film's color palette is
largely realistic, so you won't see many insanely vivid hues, but the image is pleasingly dense, founded on deep blacks and balanced contrast. (There are
a few instances when highlights seem a bit overexposed.) Although the film sits on a 25 GB platter—rather than a larger, dual-layer 50 GB disc—there
are no wayward compression artifacts or other encode issues.
As a lightweight crime comedy/thriller, you probably have a good idea of what to expect audio-wise from Wild Target. The film's DTS-HD Master
Audio 5.1 surround track may lack the non-stop sound effect theatrics of a more dedicated action movie, but the mix still has plenty of punch and
immersion, mostly in the form of the pop songs that completely fill the soundfield every few minutes. The rear channels also occasionally get called into
service for car chases, gunshots, and breaking glass—along with some quiet, scene-setting ambience now and then—but nothing too intensive. What it
lacks in sheer bombast the track makes up by nailing the essentials—a broad dynamic range, clarity throughout the spectrum, and dialogue that's
consistently clear and comprehensible. English SDH and Spanish subtitles are available in easy-to-read white lettering.
The disc's sole bonus feature, On Target with Emily Blunt (SD, 3:33), is a quick interview with the always-lovely actress, who discusses her role
and the other characters in the film.
I'm not sure why Wild Target got so thoroughly trashed by critics. It's no masterpiece, but it's a fun diversion, especially if you're into
characteristically dry British comedy. Perhaps the film—which disappeared rather quickly from limited U.S. release—will find its audience on Blu-ray,
where 20th Century Fox has granted it a solid high definition presentation. If you're in the mood for something light after all of this year's dour award-
season dramas, Wild Target is worth a shot. Recommended.
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment has announced Wild Target for Blu-ray release on February 8, 2011. This action comedy, a remake from the 1993 film Cible émouvante, stars Bill Nighy, Emily Blunt, Rupert Grint and Rupert Everett. It had a limited US theatrical ...
