Killers

I predicted in a review of ‘The Bounty Hunter’ that, while that was bad, there would be worse in 2010. Well, make way for Number One. Although the two films are similar – both are built on marital strife, knockabout violence and shouting – ‘Bounty Hunter’ at least had the comic charisma of Jennifer Aniston to paper over the cracks. With Katherine Heigl and Ashton Kutcher in the leads, charm is not an option.

It’s a shame, because there’s a half-decent premise to ‘Killers’. Kutcher plays Spencer, a CIA hitman who turns in his gun when he falls for Heigl’s meek daddy’s girl. So it comes as a surprise to her when, three years into their marriage, it turns out all their suburban neighbours are also hired killers, paid to keep Spencer in line. Director Robert Luketic’s grasp of action is almost as ham-fisted as his understanding of character, and Kutcher and Heigl are unable to bring any warmth to what is at heart a bitter, cynical script. Just awful.