The Assignment (2016 film)

Last updated
The Assignment
The Assignment (2016 film).jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Walter Hill
Screenplay by
  • Walter Hill
  • Denis Hamill
Story by
  • Denis Hamill
  • Walter Hill
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyJames Liston
Edited byPhilip Norden
Music by
Production
company
SBS Films
Distributed by Saban Films
Release dates
  • September 11, 2016 (2016-09-11)(TIFF)
  • March 3, 2017 (2017-03-03)(United States)
Running time
95 minutes
Countries
LanguageEnglish
BudgetUnder $3 million [2]
Box office$388,789 [3]

The Assignment (also known as Tomboy, Revenger (in Australia) and formerly known as (Re) Assignment and Tomboy: A Revenger's Tale) [4] is an action crime thriller film directed by Walter Hill and co-written by Hill and Denis Hamill. The film stars Michelle Rodriguez, Tony Shalhoub, Anthony LaPaglia, Caitlin Gerard, and Sigourney Weaver.

Contents

The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2016. It was released on March 3, 2017, through video on demand, prior to a limited release on April 7, 2017, by Saban Films.

Plot

Dr. Rachel Jane is a rogue plastic surgeon with a twisted vision of a better world. After losing her medical license, she began an illegal practice and performed unwanted surgical experiments on impoverished homeless people. The film is split between a present-day timeframe in which she has been institutionalized and her condition is being assessed by Dr. Ralph Galen, and a second timeframe two years into the past.

Three years prior, Jane's brother Sebastian was murdered by professional killer Frank Kitchen. After discovering Frank's identity, Dr. Jane hires Honest John Baconian to double-cross him. Seeking revenge, but also seeing an opportunity to assess how much physical identity matters, Jane performs gender reassignment surgery on Frank and makes him physically female.

Horrified by her new appearance, Frank has a mental breakdown. Finding a box in the room with hormones and a tape recorder, Frank discovers a message left to her by Jane encouraging her to start over. Leaving the hotel, Frank contacts a woman he hooked up with named Johnnie and asks to stay at her home while she recovers.

The police do not believe Frank exists, frustrating Jane. When Galen contradicts her, she attacks him in a fit of rage before being restrained. A short time later, she asks for a legal deposition so that she can confess. She recounts the events surrounding Frank's surgery and the murders at her clinic that led to her incarceration, but ultimately expresses no remorse for her actions.

Frank sets out to kill everyone involved in her operation, including the men on Honest John's payroll. After learning that the surgery cannot be reversed, she interrogates Honest John, demanding the identity of her surgeon. Honest John implies that Johnnie knows the doctor and that Johnnie is involved. Frank kills Honest John and confronts Johnnie. She admits that the doctor hired her to monitor Frank, but does not know her name. She admits that she only did it in the first place because she was afraid if she didn’t, the doctor’s guards would kill her. It also becomes apparent that she developed feelings for Frank in the process. While tempted to kill her, Frank chooses to spare her and send her to Reno, Nevada. She agrees to help her lay a trap for the doctor. However, the doctor's bodyguards were expecting Frank, and they sedate her.

Frank awakens in a straitjacket and finally comes face to face with Dr. Jane. She announces her intention to perform another surgery on her to remove her right arm, so she can never kill again. Frank manages to overpower and kill all of Jane's bodyguards, and her surgical assistant. Jane reappears, threatening Frank with a large knife, noting that she has run out of bullets. Admitting she is a coward "when it comes to life and death situations", Jane suggests that they go their separate ways amicably. Frank refuses, reloads her gun with a bullet she had taped to the sole of her boot and shoots Jane, non-fatally. After staging the scene to look as if Jane's assistant killed everyone, Frank is seen holding Jane's knife over her unconscious body.

After completing her revenge, Frank records a video in which she tells his side of the story, to be released after her death. She reveals that Johnnie decided to stay in Reno. At her final meeting with Galen, Dr. Jane reveals that she had hoped to convince him to help her be deemed mentally fit for trial, but realized that it was over when she attacked him. She instead decided to accept her fate, while using the deposition as a means to tell her side of the story for anyone interested. The film ends with Jane examining her mutilated hands; Frank had severed her fingers to ensure she would never practice again.

Cast

Development

In 1978 Denis Hamill wrote the first draft of a script called Tom Boy. It was about a juvenile delinquent who rapes and murders a woman whose husband is a plastic surgeon. He's arrested and goes to prison, but the surgeon captures him and turns him into a woman. The character goes on to commit a series of murders. Walter Hill recalls, "I liked its audacity, and its potential to be ... this always sounds patronizing, but a kind of really terrific B movie. You know, the kind of movie that doesn't get much love when it comes out, but you love watching it on TV years later, much more than you do the 'big' movies of the day." [5] Hill optioned the script with his own money around ten years after he first read it. He tried to write a different version but could not get it to work. He put the project aside until he found a copy of the first draft fifteen years later. He believed he knew how to do it this time and re-optioned the script. [5]

Hill had success releasing a graphic novel in France and was looking for a follow-up. He wrote up the project as a graphic novel. [6]

Hill's agent introduced him to a producer, Saïd Ben Saïd, who was willing to invest. "The only rules he laid down was that it'd have to be made for very cheap, and there had to be some name value in the cast," said Hill. [5]

"This movie totally comes out of the same animus as my Tales From the Crypt shows," said Hill. "I mean, these are nasty people, caught in a nasty situation, that out of the experience are somewhat chastened and wiser for it. Assuming they survive—not all survive! Which was certainly out of the old EC Comics. So it's a very small movie, but it's a king-size Tales from the Crypt." [7]

Production

Principal photography on the film began on November 9, 2015 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. [8]

Walter Hill directed the revenge thriller based on a script he co-wrote with Denis Hamill, which Saïd Ben Saïd produced along with Michel Merkt through SBS Productions. [8] [9]

It took Michelle Rodriguez four hours each day she wore male prosthetics and makeup. She chose for her character to have the largest penis available. [10]

The soundtrack is by Giorgio Moroder. [11] The end title theme is composed by Guns N' Roses keyboardist Melissa Reese. [12]

Release

In May 2016, Saban Films acquired distribution rights to the film. [13] It had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2016. [14] It was released through video on demand on March 3, 2017, prior to opening in a limited release on April 7, 2017. [15] [16]

Reception

The Assignment received negative reviews from critics. It holds a rating of 33% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 63 reviews, with a weighted average of 4/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "The Assignment's premise is bizarrely intriguing; unfortunately, it's also just one of many ingredients fumbled in a disappointing misfire from director Walter Hill." [17] On Metacritic, the film holds a rating of 34 out of 100, based on 20 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". [18]

Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a positive review, writing: "Hill's most entertaining and...accomplished film in some time", and "an instant cult item". [19] Dennis Harvey of Variety gave the film a negative review, writing: "Gracelessly mashes together hardboiled crime-melodrama cliches and an unintentionally funny 'Oh no! I'm a chick now!!' gender-change narrative hook." [20] Wendy Ide of Screen International also gave the film a negative review, writing: "Despite liberally quoting Shakespeare and Edgar Allan Poe, the screenplay is just not sharp enough to make the audience feel vindicated about dumbing down." [21] Michelle Rodriguez won best actress from Verband der Deutschen Filmkritik. [22]

The transgender community was largely disappointed by the image of forced gender reassignment surgery and a boycott was created in response. [5] [23] [24] The director Walter Hill responded by stating, "I wouldn't make a movie that hurt transgender people. Some of them have had a tough time of it, and the last thing I want to do is make anyone's road harder. But look, I understand the concern. Is it lurid? Yes. Is it lowbrow? Well, maybe. Is it offensive? No. I'm just trying to honor the B movies that we grew up with." [5] [25] [26]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Michelle Gellar</span> American actress (born 1977)

Sarah Michelle Gellar is an American actress. After being spotted by a talent agent as a young child, she made her film debut at age six in the television film An Invasion of Privacy (1983). A leading role in the short-lived teen drama series Swans Crossing (1992) was followed by her breakthrough as Kendall Hart on the ABC soap opera All My Children (1993–1995), for which she won a Daytime Emmy Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sigourney Weaver</span> American actress (born 1949)

Susan Alexandra "Sigourney" Weaver is an American actress. A figure in science fiction and popular culture, she has received various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Grammy Award, in addition to nominations for three Academy Awards, four Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award. In 2003, she was voted Number 20 in Channel 4's countdown of the 100 greatest movie stars of all time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morena Baccarin</span> American actress (born 1979)

Morena Silva de Vaz Setta Baccarin is an American actress. She is known for portraying Inara Serra in the sci-fi television series Firefly and its follow-up film Serenity, Vanessa in the superhero comedy films Deadpool, Deadpool 2, and Deadpool & Wolverine, Jessica Brody in the series Homeland, Dr. Leslie "Lee" Thompkins in the series Gotham, and Elena Federova in the series The Endgame. For Homeland, she was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michelle Rodriguez</span> American actress (born 1978)

Mayte Michelle Rodríguez is an American actress. She began her career in 2000, playing a troubled boxer in the independent sports drama film Girlfight (2000), where she won the Independent Spirit Award and Gotham Award for Best Debut Performance. Rodriguez plays Letty Ortiz in the Fast & Furious franchise, and portrayed Rain Ocampo in the Resident Evil franchise. She appeared in the crime thriller S.W.A.T. (2003), and later starred in James Cameron's science fiction epic Avatar (2009) and in the action film Battle: Los Angeles (2011).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madeleine Stowe</span> American actress (born 1958)

Madeleine Marie Stowe Mora is an American actress. She appeared mostly on television before her role in the 1987 crime-comedy film Stakeout. She went on to star in the films Revenge (1990), Unlawful Entry (1992), The Last of the Mohicans (1992), Blink (1993), 12 Monkeys (1995), The General's Daughter (1999), and We Were Soldiers (2002). For her role in the 1993 independent film Short Cuts, she won the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jessica Alba</span> American actress and businesswoman (born 1981)

Jessica Marie Alba is an American actress and businesswoman. She began her acting career at age 13 in Camp Nowhere (1994), followed up by The Secret World of Alex Mack (1994), and rose to prominence at age 19 as the lead actress of the television series Dark Angel (2000–2002), for which she received a Golden Globe nomination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wendy Crewson</span> Canadian actress

Wendy Jane Crewson is a Canadian actress and producer. She began her career appearing on Canadian television, before her breakthrough role in 1991 dramatic film The Doctor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexis Arquette</span> American actress (1969–2016)

Alexis Arquette was an American actress and transgender activist.

<i>Normal</i> (2003 film) 2003 television film by Jane Anderson

Normal is a 2003 American made-for-television drama film produced by HBO Films, which became an official selection at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. Jane Anderson, the film's writer and director, adapted her own play, Looking for Normal. The film is about a fictional Midwestern factory worker named Roy Applewood, who stuns his wife of 25 years by saying he wishes to undergo sex reassignment surgery and transition to a woman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Renée Richards</span> US tennis player and ophthalmologist

Renée Richards is an American ophthalmologist and former tennis player who competed on the professional circuit in the 1970s, and became widely known following male-to-female sex reassignment surgery, when she fought to compete as a woman in the 1976 US Open.

<i>Life Begins</i> (1932 film) 1932 film

Life Begins is a 1932 American pre-Code drama film starring Loretta Young, Eric Linden, Aline MacMahon, and Glenda Farrell. The film was adapted from the 1932 play of the same name by Mary M. Axelson. It was released by Warner Bros. on September 10, 1932. The film was praised for its honest portrayal of a maternity ward.

<i>Prayers for Bobby</i> 2009 television film directed by Russell Mulcahy

Prayers for Bobby is a televised drama film that premiered on the Lifetime network on January 24, 2009. The film is based on the book of the same name by Leroy F. Aarons, which is itself based on the true story of the life and legacy of Bobby Griffith, a gay young man who killed himself in 1983 due to his mother's homophobia. Ryan Kelley stars as Bobby Griffith and Sigourney Weaver portrays his mother Mary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transgender history in the United States</span>

This article addresses the history of transgender people in the United States from prior to Western contact until the present. There are a few historical accounts of transgender people that have been present in the land now known as the United States at least since the early 1600s. Before Western contact, some Native American tribes had third gender people whose social roles varied from tribe to tribe. People dressing and living differently from the gender roles typical of their sex assigned at birth and contributing to various aspects of American history and culture have been documented from the 17th century to the present day. In the 20th and 21st centuries, advances in gender-affirming surgery as well as transgender activism have influenced transgender life and the popular perception of transgender people in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gina Rodriguez</span> American actress

Gina Alexis Rodriguez is an American actress. She is known for her leading role as Jane Villanueva in The CW satirical romantic dramedy series Jane the Virgin (2014–2019), for which she received a Golden Globe Award in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jazz Jennings</span> American internet personality

Jazz Jennings is an American YouTube personality, spokesmodel, television personality, and LGBT rights activist. Jennings is one of the youngest publicly documented people to be identified as transgender. Jennings received national attention in 2007 when an interview with Barbara Walters aired on 20/20, which led to other high-profile interviews and appearances. Christine Connelly, a member of the board of directors for the Boston Alliance of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth, stated, "She was the first young person who picked up the national spotlight, went on TV and was able to articulate her perspective and point of view with such innocence." Her parents noted that Jennings was clear on being female as soon as she could speak.

<i>High School</i> (1940 film) 1940 American film

High School is a 1940 American teen comedy film directed by George Nicholls, Jr. and written by Jack Jungmeyer, Edith Skouras, and Harold Tarshis. The film stars Jane Withers as a spirited 13-year-old tomboy who is sent from her widowed father's ranch to learn at Thomas Jefferson High School in San Antonio, Texas, where she alienates her fellow students with her arrogant and know-it-all personality. The script draws from the real-life activities of the high school's JROTC, band, and "Lassos" girls pep squad.

Mya Taylor is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her role as Alexandra in the 2015 film Tangerine for which she won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michaela Jaé Rodriguez</span> American actress and singer (born 1991)

Michaela Antonia Jaé Rodriguez, formerly known as Mj Rodriguez, is an American actress and singer. Born in Newark, New Jersey, Rodriguez attended several performing arts schools in her youth before being cast in a theater production of Rent as Angel Dumott Schunard, winning the 2011 Clive Barnes Award for her performance.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "The Assignment (2016) – Walter Hill". AllMovie . Retrieved February 9, 2019.
  2. ↑ Guerrasio, Jason (April 7, 2017). "The director behind a controversial new gender-bending action movie explains what inspired it". Business Insider.
  3. ↑ "The Assignment". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  4. ↑ Alexander, Chris (April 3, 2017). "Interview: Walter Hill Talks The Assignment and Making Genre Movies His Way". ComingSoon.net . Retrieved July 12, 2017.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Fear, David (September 16, 2016). "Walter Hill on Controversial Revenge Thriller '(Re)Assignment'". Rolling Stone . Retrieved October 8, 2016.
  6. ↑ Brown, Phil (September 15, 2016). "Walter Hill on His Controversial Thriller '(Re) Assignment' and Why He Quit 'Deadwood'". Collider .
  7. ↑ Sragow, Michael (April 3, 2017). "Deep Focus: An Interview with Walter Hill". Film Comment.
  8. 1 2 Kit, Borys (October 28, 2015). "Michelle Rodriguez to Star in Gender-Reassignment Thriller 'Tomboy'". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved April 27, 2016.
  9. ↑ Ford, Rebecca (February 10, 2016). "Berlin: Michelle Rodriguez Is Out for Revenge in 'Tomboy'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 27, 2016.
  10. ↑ "Michelle Rodriguez Picked Her Own Prosthetic Penis and Went on Tinder During 'The Assignment'". The Hollywood Reporter . 4 April 2017.
  11. ↑ "Walter Hill's the Assignment is a pulp fairy tale without a clue". The A.V. Club . 4 April 2017.
  12. ↑ "Melissa Reese: On the Road with Guns N' Roses". ROLI . November 11, 2016. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
  13. ↑ Busch, Anita (May 23, 2016). "'Tomboy, A Revenger's Tale' From Walter Hill Acquired By Saban Films". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved April 16, 2017.
  14. ↑ "(re)ASSIGNMENT". Toronto International Film Festival . Retrieved April 16, 2017.
  15. ↑ Nordine, Michael (January 23, 2017). "'The Assignment' Trailer: Michelle Rodriguez and Sigourney Weaver Star in Controversial Revenge Thriller". Indiewire.com . Retrieved April 16, 2017.
  16. ↑ Perez Jr, Ruben (January 14, 2017). "The Assignment, Starring Michelle Rodriguez & Sigourney Weaver, On Ultra VOD 3/3 and in Theaters 4/7". Entertainment Rocks. Archived from the original on April 16, 2017. Retrieved April 16, 2017.
  17. ↑ "The Assignment (2017)". Rotten Tomatoes . 7 April 2017. Retrieved November 4, 2022.
  18. ↑ "The Assignment". Metacritic . Retrieved April 16, 2017.
  19. ↑ McCarthy, Todd (November 9, 2016). "'(Re)Assignment' Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
  20. ↑ Harvey, Dennis (September 11, 2016). "Toronto Film Review: '(Re)Assignment'". Variety . Retrieved April 16, 2017.
  21. ↑ Ide, Wendy (September 12, 2016). "'(re)ASSIGNMENT': Toronto Review". Screen International . Retrieved April 16, 2017.
  22. ↑ "Verband der Deutschen Filmkritik e.V." www.vdfk.de. Archived from the original on September 9, 2017. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
  23. ↑ O'Hara, Mary Emily (August 18, 2016). "Transgender community disappointed by bizarre new Michelle Rodriguez film '(Re)Assignment'". The Daily Dot . Retrieved August 20, 2016.
  24. ↑ Ragan, Scott (October 7, 2016). "'(Re)Assignment' Comic Based on Michelle Rodriguez's Controversial Film Is Getting a U.S. Release". Out . Retrieved October 14, 2017.
  25. ↑ Tedder, Michael (April 4, 2017). "'The Assignment' Director, Writer Defend Sex Reassignment Storyline: 'Character Is Not Transgender'". Variety. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
  26. ↑ Abrams, Simon (April 5, 2017). "Walter Hill Defends The Assignment: 'This Is Entirely Consistent With Transgender Theory'". Vulture.com . Retrieved April 16, 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.