Assassin

Kassovitz's follow-up to La Haine is a disappointing misfire. Jobless petty criminal Kassovitz is taken up by ageing hitman Serrault, who'd like to see his perverse code of ethics carried on into an increasingly amoral world. So far, so implausible, but once teenager Benoufa takes to their murderous world like a duck to water, and Kassovitz the writer/director starts blaming the increase in violence on watching too much TV, it's hard not to object to the facile, conservative moralising and sledge-hammer dramaturgy. The actors are indulged, the ethical stance is duplicitous (given the relish the film displays in mounting scenes of horrific violence), and the overall result is extremely tedious.