Philippa Smith-Tyler

I like this movie because I like female leads in action movies. Jessica Chastain was wonderful. I also like John Malkovich. All the other characters were marvelous except for Common. His was the most useless character in the movie. Both Ava and her sister are smart, savvy women who would (hopefully) choose strong partners. The role that Common plays is a weak, spineless character at which most women would turn up their noses. I was very disappointed in the character that Common played. And yet the three strong women in the movie - Ava, her sister and her mother- all acted as if their worlds revolved around him. What a joke! Also, Common never seemed to really act. What he did was memorize his lines. Even the Asian woman– a strong character – acted as if Common's character was important to her. There was so much jealousy in this movie. That theme should have been more evident. Judy is jealous of her sister Ava. Camille is jealous of the attention her beloved father gives to his new family. Her father (Colin Farrell) is jealous of Ava and how much Duke (his former mentor) loves Ava. He uses this weird rule of 'Do not ask the subject what they did to merit being killed' to mask this jealousy he has of Ava. Unaware of this, Ava violates this rule for every kill contract. I enjoyed this movie despite its weak points.

I had the privilege of living at the time during which Mr. Shirley was performing. What a remarkable talent! The movie is extremely well-done and I was astonished at the skill Mr. Ali showed in learning to move his fingers across the keyboard to imitate Don Shirley's extraordinary piano playing.