Assassin’s Plan ★★★

AMERICAN crime thriller Knox Goes Away was released in Australia under the title Assassin’s Plan.

It was obviously done to make the film more enticing, but the new title it just makes it seem like a hundred other films you can watch on streaming services at home.

That’s a shame because, while it may not have warranted a full cinema release, it’s not like most of those films, more film-noir in style and taking a different story path.

Michael Keaton directs himself in the lead role of John Knox, a long-time contract killer working for a crime syndicate who is forced to deal with a highly aggressive form of dementia.

While we have seen the same basis to a few recent films, one with Liam Neeson a year or so ago comes immediately to mind, Keaton and his writer Gregory Poirier set this one apart by creates a palpable sense of urgency and intriguing plot elements.

After being responsible for a bad outcome to his next job, Knox starts planning an exit strategy from the syndicate that doesn’t involve revealing his condition. But things go further awry when his estranged adult son desperately turns to him for help after committing a crime.

As usual Keaton creates an interesting and identifiable character, despite his moral failings, and there is good chemistry with James Marsden playing his son,  Marcia Gay Harden as his ex-wife and Joanna Kulig as a sex worker who has become a regular part of Knox’s life.

Less successful are the oddly comic scenes involving the police attempting to solve cases that intersect with Knox’s plans and Al Pacino in a throw-away role as a criminal friend assisting Knox.

Watched at the cinema.