“Martha, at some point you’re just going to have to start recognizing these red flags.”

Sophie

Mr Right is a screwball action comedy with a fun premise, hamstrung by a lazy script and dull direction, yet almost saved by the charm of its leads. Sam Rockwell is on top form as Francis, an eccentric savant hitman who has developed a conscience. Much of the film’s creativity appears to have been expended on an inspired opening sequence in which a hit squad destroys a hotel wedding venue whilst trying to neutralise Francis, unfolding from the perspective of an agent in a surveillance van charting their deaths. Meanwhile, Anna Kendrick sells us sufficiently on Martha’s craziness to make the impulsive decision to date Francis believable. This sets up a wonderful opening act of misunderstandings as Martha mistakes Francis’s honesty for dark humour, buoyed by the warm chemistry between the two. Once she discovers the truth, however, the plot largely shifts gears to focus on everyone gunning for Francis, with the clever choreography of the opening giving way to stale action. The film barrels toward an obvious conclusion with little payoff and yet, for all its failings, it’s not quite enough to ruin the strength of that first act.

5/10