Can a professional hitman and an optimistic woman find love amidst constant lethal chaos?
In short: In the 2015 action comedy Mr. Right, a woman discovers her new boyfriend is a former CIA agent turned hitman who kills his own clients. As they navigate a world of assassins and syndicates, they discover a shared, uncanny ability to precognitively anticipate the flow of physical objects around them.
Directed by Paco Cabezas and written by Max Landis, the film follows Francis Munch, a mercenary who has turned against his former employers. Munch possesses a unique, almost supernatural combat philosophy: he believes that all physical objects exist within a current that can be anticipated before movement occurs. This ability allows him to perform feats like catching knives mid-air, a skill he eventually shares with his girlfriend, Martha McKay. Their romance is complicated by the persistent threat of the Pirrello heroin syndicate and Munch's former mentor, Ed Hopper, who seeks to force Munch back into a life of contract killing.
The film's narrative is defined by its rapid shifts between quirky romantic comedy and intense, stylized violence. Critics have noted this tonal inconsistency as a primary weakness. While reviewers like Richard Roeper compared the film to the violent comedy tradition of Grosse Pointe Blank, others, such as Peter Debruge, argued that the script felt like a dated attempt to recapture the hitman-comedy craze of the late 1990s. Despite the mixed critical reception—holding a 44% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 52/100 on Metacritic—the performances of leads Sam Rockwell and Anna Kendrick were frequently highlighted as the film's strongest assets.
Production began in New Orleans in October 2014, following a casting process that brought together an ensemble including Tim Roth, RZA, and Anson Mount. The story culminates in a chaotic confrontation where Martha’s own latent combat abilities awaken, allowing her to dispatch attackers and eventually join Munch as they flee their pursuers. Ultimately, the film poses a question about whether a person defined by lethal work can sustain a normal life, or if they are destined to remain in a cycle of violence, even while attempting to pursue personal interests like paleontology.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Mr. Right (2015 film)
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