Diary of a Hitman

Dekker (Forest Whitaker) is a troubled hitman. He tries therapy. He's having eyesight problems. He gets a new job which he hopes to be his last. He gets a suspicious change including a hit on a baby. He is about to kill Jain (Sherilyn Fenn) when he's interrupted by her friend Kiki (Sharon Stone). I like the meandering setup to the hit. I like spending time with Dekker. I even like going to the eye doctor. Once he gets into the apartment, he needs a good reason for delaying. He has to give a reason. It becomes stretched out. He could get that reason by talking to Jain. I don't really understand Dekker's thinking. Quite frankly, it starts with changing the hit. He smells something fishy right away but he should do something about it. I just want Dekker to be written smarter.

I have a problem with rough language and things, though I am far from the perfect person, so gave it less stars than would, otherwise. Still, it's a thrilling ride with great performances by the leads and supporting. A diary is what you make it.

Forest Whitaker is an incredible actor. He is truly an amazing actor. One of the best actors of this generation. And in this movie, he really shines. He does a really strong performance. His voice over is really good. He plays a very troubled hit man with an identity crisis and maybe a mid life crisis. He's very troubled by his job. Troubled by his purpose in life. He gets paid well for his hitman job and he's very good at his job. But he's very tired and very troubled by his routine. We get a lot of monologues of his inner thoughts. And I really loved this part of the movie. Forest Whitaker is talking to himself and to the audience. We get to hear everything he's feeling. We get to hear his inner conflict. We get to connect with him and his inner feelings. The second part of the movie all deals with him taking a job and having a hard time finishing the job, having an inner conflict in hurting innocents. The second part of the movie is the conflict and turmoil between him and Sherilyn Fenn. They have a very strong and dark confrontation and the dilemma of Forest Whitaker hurting two innocents. He has a job to do but his conscience won't let him do it. There's a lot of money on the line but he is troubled by his morality. I really liked this movie and everyone gave good strong performances. Even the smaller roles like the psychologist was very good.

Diary of a Hit-man is directed by Roy London and adapted to screenplay by Kenneth Pressman from his own play, Insider's Price. It stars Forest Whitaker, John Bedford-Lloyd, Sherilyn Fenn, Seymour Cassel, James Belushi and Sharon Stone.Music is by Michel Colombier and cinematography by Yuri Sokol. Hit-man Dekker is contracted to kill the wife and baby of his latest client, but he starts to seriously question the ethics of the job... "you're your own worst witness" The ingredients for a high end neo-noir piece are all in place here, with the pic at times threatening potency to strike a telling blow, sadly it rounds out as very unfulfilling. Its stage origins are all too obvious, and the blend of quirky and wry humour with the more dramatic core of the story never sits well. Cast also come off as a little awkward, no doubt straining to deliver the goods for their acting coach director. On the plus side for noir fans there's stuff to savour. Pic is driven by a Dekker narration, and the character is in contact with interesting characters. Be it a mime artist, his psychiatrist, a kid in a tumble dryer, a busy body tarty sister or the weasel villain who hires him, the human contact is straight out of noir land. The places he goes are also in keeping, the local bar with neon lighting, the church where "business" is conducted, Jain's (Fenn) apartment, which is a bizarre concoction of scatterbrain living and mummy housewifery, or a peekaboo strip joint. Elsewhere there's an extended session of film where Dekker has double vision, this putting a nice off-kilter vibe on things, while the whole time where the pic takes place in the apartment - with just Dekker and Jain in conflab - holds considerable interest. But then there's the finale, which is so far removed from noir it may make some want to set fire to the TV... Just above average neo-noir, but not one to recommend with any sort of confidence. 6/10

After seeing this movie on TV several years ago, I picked this up for cheap on Amazon. Turns out it was a really good movie but it is Forest Whitaker who steals the show as the hit-man out to kill the wife of a client who knows her husband is up to no good. Despite the movie's dark tone, there's a surprising amount of dark humor, especially Sharon Stone, who plays her kooky, drugged out sister and her lines had me laughing out loud in one of the most tense and chill-inducing scenes of the movie. An exceptional thriller with strong performances, a solid storyline, and edge of your seat moments make "Diary of a Hit-man" one little gem of a movie.

I saw this movie well after it was out, caught it about 10 minutes after is started, and was doing something else at the time the TV was on. After just a few moments, I was spell bound (I love Ms. Fenn) but she was not the one who grabbed my attention. It was this soft spoken hit man truly agonizing with the situation. When it was on again, (you know Showtime runs the same movie multiple times a month) even though I knew the ending, (I will not spoil it) I watched it again, beginning to end. I was captivated by Forest's portrayal. I referenced this movie to someone, and they reminded me he was in the Crying Game. I'd not made the connection. I was told to see Ghost Dog, which I enjoyed even more. Having just got back from seeing The Last King Of Scotland, and having watched the season he was on The Shield, I have to say Forest has turned into one of the finest actors of our time. I hope he wins his Oscar this year.

Good 80's flik-a classic actors flik before conglomerate studios, w/ original music + real artists on soundtrack. 1 of the last b4 cookie-cutter movies became the norm and original stories/good actors, real film-making, still got promo. Whitaker and Fenn are excellent. Her best work and his emergence as Oscar winner. A shame that 2days flix need a kid starring to get a greenlight. I hate to say it, but I miss the 'studio system'- professional writers,directors,crew,timelines,productions, from top to bottom. Actors were labor like everybody else. Most of them were from stage or were multi-faceted entertainers. Where are modern Elvis, Sammy Davis, T. Curtis, L. Ball, Gleason, M.Rooney, D.Kaye, G.Kelly, Bogart,Cagney, etc.?

Dorest Whitaker stars as a hitman hired by a commodities trader who asks him to murder his wife who he says is a drug addict who gave birth to an addicted baby who isnt his... Whitaker, doing one final job, goes but has his doubts of the authenticity of the husband and breaking his professional vow to himself, begins talking with the woman (Sherilyn Fenn in one of her best roles) A highly dramatic film that runs like a theater drama. Very Well done and underappreciated On a scale of one to ten.. 7

Forrest Whittaker is superb in this taut thriller, in which he plays a burned-out hit man who is planning his last job. The job, however, is a dirty one even by his standards: he is ordered to murder the wife of a shady businessman and the wife's baby (whom, claims the businessman, is not his child, and a crack baby to boot). Sherilyn Fenn plays the wife masterfully, exhibiting a wide range of emotion from fear to desperation to joy to confusion, all within just a few minutes on camera. James Belushi plays a cynical police detective, while Sharon Stone (in her first post-"Basic Instinct" role) has a small role as Sherilyn's kooky sister, aptly named "Kiki". Instead of taking out Sherilyn and her baby, Whittaker bonds with her and, eventually, turns the tables on her s.o.b. husband. The movie was filmed in Pittsburgh, Youngstown, Ohio, and Sharon, PA, where the producer's studio was located at the time (1991). These industrial locales add a dark mood to this even darker drama, one that is vastly underrated.