Killers

A mild improvement over filmmaker Robert Luketic’s last few efforts (The Ugly Truth, 21, Monster-in-Law, etc, etc), Killers follows uptight career woman Jen Kornfeldt (Katherine Heigl) as she reluctantly agrees to tag along with her parents (Tom Selleck and Catherine O’Hara) on a trip to France. There, Jen falls into an impulsive relationship with a charismatic stranger (Ashton Kutcher’s Spencer) and the two eventually settle down in her home town – with their domestic bliss threatened after a mysterious force from Spencer’s illicit past enlists several assassins to take him out. Luketic, working from a script by Bob DeRosa and Ted Griffin, has infused Killers with a laid-back and thoroughly affable vibe that goes a long way towards initially capturing the viewer’s interest, with the impressive French scenery and palpable chemistry between the stars generally perpetuating the film’s easy-going sensibilities. The lighthearted, almost sitcom-like atmosphere proves effective at carrying Killers through its decidedly uneventful midsection, as the movie settles into a groove that would most likely be disastrous were it not for the good will cultivated by the opening hour (and also by the entertainingly eclectic supporting cast, which includes Rob Riggle, Alex Borstein, and Martin Mull). It’s only as Killers morphs into a rather conventional romantic thriller that one’s enthusiasm for the material begins to wane, with the emphasis on Jen and Spencer’s relentless squabbling compounded by Luketic’s less-than-competent approach to the film’s action-oriented interludes (ie enough with the shaky camerawork, already). The revelation that many of the people in Spencer’s life are actually sleeper agents itching to kill him – think The Truman Show but with guns – ultimately proves intriguing enough to compensate for the otherwise lackluster vibe, thus cementing Killers‘ place as an acceptable time-waster that just barely gets the job done.

**1/2 out of ****