Mr. Right (2015 film)

Mr. Right
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Paco Cabezas
Written by	Max Landis
Starring	Sam Rockwell Anna Kendrick Tim Roth James Ransone Anson Mount Michael Eklund RZA
Cinematography	Daniel Aranyó
Edited by	Tom Wilson
Music by	Aaron Zigman
Distributed by	Focus World
Release dates	September 19, 2015 (2015-09-19) (TIFF) April 8, 2016 (2016-04-08) (United States)
Running time	95 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$8 million
Box office	$397,903

Mr. Right is a 2016 American romantic action comedy film directed by Paco Cabezas, written by Max Landis, and starring an ensemble cast featuring Sam Rockwell, Anna Kendrick, Tim Roth, James Ransone, Anson Mount, Michael Eklund, and RZA.

The film, which follows a young woman (Kendrick) who discovers that her new boyfriend (Rockwell) is a professional hitman, was released in the United States on April 8, 2016, by Focus World, to mixed reviews from critics.

Plot

Martha (Anna Kendrick) is an eccentric but kind-spirited woman who jettisons her boyfriend after he cheats on her and he suggests a threesome. Elsewhere, Francis (Sam Rockwell) is seen knocking on a hotel door. A woman answers and Francis explains that he is the hit-man that she hired to kill her law partner so she would own the firm outright; he then puts on a red clown nose, tells her that murder is wrong, and shoots her dead. At the same time a team of assassins are preparing to trap Francis in the hotel. Upon witnessing child-like banter and carelessness from the squad, Hopper (Tim Roth) (a chameleon hit-man and Francis' old partner) stays in the surveillance van as he knows that Francis will easily handle the unprofessional hit squad. Hopper listens to the squad be killed one by one as the audience sees the skill and anticipation of Francis. After the incident, Hopper takes a phone call from his bosses who inform him to use a new identity as an FBI agent, as they have arranged for him to partner with a local New Orleans police detective, Gus Patrick, who has been assigned to capture Francis.

The following day, Martha spends the morning at a pet store where her roommate works. Martha, being quirky, wears a cat ear headband while at the pet store. On the way home from the store, Martha stops at a convenience market. Francis, also in the market, notices her quirkiness and is immediately drawn to her. After some witty banter, he asks her out on a date and they spend the next 10 hours walking and talking. Francis is very open with Martha but she assumes his tales are embellishments and not actually events. As they stroll through the zoo, Francis "feels" a hit-man's glare and dances with Martha while evading a bullet streaming past them. They end up spending the night together.

The next morning, Francis leaves Martha a note, asking her to continue their date that night. Martha is smitten and makes breakfast for her roommate Sophie, who is skeptical of Francis. Francis does meet Martha in a bar that night. As they converse over drinks, Francis notices Espinoza, one of the surviving hit-men from the squad, who is there to kill him. Francis excuses himself and walks outside; Espinoza follows him to the alley, where Francis kills him. Francis returns to the table and explains to Martha that he just had to kill a guy in the alley; she again thinks he is joking.

At the same time, brothers from a mob family are hiding out in New Orleans. The younger brother, Von Cartigan, has ambition, but lacks brains and skill; he convinces a local thug named Johnny Moon to join him in hiring Francis, who now has a reputation for killing the people who hire him. Thus, his plan is to hire the hit-man for his brother Richard, who would be killed by Francis, so Von could take charge of the family.

Francis takes Martha with him to the initial meeting for the hit-man job, but she stays in the car watching as Francis puts on a clown nose and kills the man who tried to hire him, who meets him in Richard's place. Martha, now realizing Francis (whose name she does not even know yet) has been truthful to her about his past, is freaked out. When he returns to the car, she asks him to take her home. They drive to her apartment and a stunned Martha walks away. Unbeknownst to Francis, they have been followed by Johnny, who then gives Martha's address to the mob brothers who want revenge.

Later that day, Hopper (posing as an FBI agent) and Gus interview Martha and explain that Francis is a hit-man with a conscience who is very dangerous. At this time, Martha realizes that Francis has always told her the truth and she is coming to grips with the fact that she is falling for a man she now knows to be a hit-man. Francis, despondent, decides to come to Martha's apartment to discuss the day's events. Hopper believes that Francis will show up, and waits for him. Francis tricks Hopper, stuns him unconscious and drags him into Martha's apartment, where he tells Martha and Sophie that Hopper is not an FBI agent, he is a bad guy. Martha does not know what to believe and then remembers that Francis has always told her the truth. She decides to go with him. As they leave, the mob family's hit-squad arrives and surprises Francis. One member of the hit-squad, Steve, gets the jump on Francis during the ensuing fight and Francis is impressed, causing them to express their mutual admiration for the other's skill. As Francis takes care of the hit-squad, he is again surprised by Steve's skill, and is disarmed. The mobsters take Martha and provide an address where Francis can find them. As they make their escape, Francis is knocked down by Hopper. Hopper and Francis discuss how they ended up where they are; when Gus arrives, Hopper shoots him dead. Francis uses that distraction to escape.

Francis arrives at the mobsters' house to rescue Martha, at which point Von tells Francis to kill Richard, revealing his treachery to his brother. Francis refuses and leaves the room to look for Martha, and Von kills Richard himself. After Francis convinces Steve not to kill him and finds Martha, they run into Hopper, who fights Francis while Martha is captured by Johnny. Martha, who has noticed she has the same ability as Francis to react to danger, uses that skill to evade Johnny, whom she kills. Von confronts Martha, who kills him as well. Hopper is about to shoot Francis but is then killed by Steve. Francis explains to Steve that Hopper has a $5 million bounty on his head, dead or alive. Steve celebrates as Francis and Martha leave together.

In the end credits, Martha and Francis are in Vietnam and are deciding whether to go to Thailand or Brazil. A hit-man is watching Francis, preparing to take him out, until he writes on a tray, "Where's the Girl" and Martha shoots the hit-man, having managed to sneak up next to him.

Cast

• Sam Rockwell as Mr. Right/Francis
• Anna Kendrick as Martha
• Tim Roth as Hopper
• RZA as Shotgun Steve
• James Ransone as Von Cartigan
• Anson Mount as Richard Cartigan
• Michael Eklund as Johnny Moon
• Katie Nehra as Sophie
• Alec Rayme as Sniper

Production

The project was announced on October 8, 2011 by Variety, that Paco Cabezas would direct the action-comedy film Mr. Right scripted by Max Landis, produced by Circle of Confusion's David Alpert and Lawrence Mattis. On May 5, 2014, Sam Rockwell and Anna Kendrick were announced for the lead roles. Michael Helfant and Bradley Gallo would finance the film for Amasia Entertainment and co-produce along with Circle of Confusion's Mattis and Rick Jacobs. On October 6, rapper RZA joined the cast. On October 7, Tim Roth joined the film. On October 8, James Ransone joined the film. On October 10, Anson Mount, Michael Eklund and Katie Nehra joined the cast.

Filming

Filming began on October 13, 2014, in New Orleans, Louisiana, and ran for seven weeks.

Release

In October 2014, Lakeshore Entertainment announced its acquiring international distribution rights to the film, while Sierra/Affinity would handle international sales of the film at American Film Market. The film had its world premiere at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival on September 19, as the closing night film. Before that, Focus World had acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film. The film was released in the U.S. on April 8, 2016.

Reception

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 40%, based on 48 reviews, with a weighted average score of 4.8/10 and the site's consensus: "Sam Rockwell and Anna Kendrick work well together, but Mr. Right is too much of a tonal jumble to take advantage of their chemistry". On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 52 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Peter Dubruge of Variety gave the film a negative review, writing, "Not an especially sustainable work model, professionally speaking (it’s murder on word-of-mouth, for starters), but then, this fixer is ready to make some changes in his own life, maybe even find romance with an on-the-rebound Anna Kendrick — which is where Max Landis’ ultra-cutesy script picks up, asking whether a character like that can find and sustain love … or else die trying. For about a decade after Pulp Fiction, such quirky hit-man comedies were all the rage, though in the post-Gigli era, (the eerily similar) Mr. Right just feels wrong."

Kendrick's performance was praised by Alan Scherstuhl of The Village Voice, saying it was "a role that Anna Kendrick kills with such flamboyant style it makes all the movie's shootings look even more rote." Andy Webster in his New York Times review comments that "Anna Kendrick's star shows no sign of dimming".

Accolades

Award	Category	Recipients	Result
Teen Choice Awards	Choice Movie: Comedy		Nominated
	Choice Movie Actress: Comedy	Anna Kendrick	Nominated

External links

• Mr. Right at IMDb
• Mr. Right at Rotten Tomatoes
• Mr. Right at Metacritic
• Mr. Right at AllMovie (rating 2.5/5)