With Danny Dyer all set to appear on ITV’s new interview series The Assembly this Saturday, April 26, we’re taking a walk down a Danny Dyer-shaped road and remembering a few more hidden gems from the former EastEnders actor’s movies and shows.
Featuring a very loose interpretation of the phrase ‘hidden gem’, Assassin has been dubbed “the worst film in the history of the world” by some viewers, but is absolutely adored by some who call it a “very underrated, brilliant movie”.
With a direct-to-DVD release, the 2015 film features Danny Dyer and the Kemp brothers, Gary and Martin Kemp, alongside Holly Weston, Robert Cavanah, and Deborah Moore.
Directed by J. K. Amalou, Assassin tells the story of Jamie, a hitman who has been hired to kill a corrupt official. However things start to go horribly wrong when he ends up falling for the daughter of his intended target (after already killing said target). With Jamie’s love interest putting herself in the path of danger as she begins to question the death of her father, Jamie now has to protect his lady from the two gangster brothers who hired him in the first place.
The movie was generally panned by critics, receiving 15% on Rotten Tomatoes and 3.8/10 on IMDB.
However, Dyer’s film resonated with many viewers: “Low budget as it was, Assassin was never going to be the best movie ever made. A poor man’s Bourne Identity? Maybe not, but certainly a gritty, London underworld version of it. The plot was interesting, and while it had to be taken with perhaps a grain or two of salt, it was engaging and exciting all the way through. Assassin is a far better spend of your time than another Hollywood superhero movie any day.”
Another glowing audience review of the film says: “Brilliant movie, very underrated and I don’t really understand why people dislike it so much. The acting was great and the storyline was interesting and suspenseful. The movie obviously didn’t have a huge budget but for what it accomplished it was fantastic. Great gritty thriller.”
Many were still generally negative about The Assassin, with one critic’s review of the film calling Dyer a “talented actor” stating: “Dyer doesn’t so much go through the motions in the role as plead with the audience to save him the bother and recall the motions from last time. He’s undoubtedly a talented actor – Harold Pinter cast him twice – but it gets harder and harder to keep the faith each time he trots out the gruff hardman routine that’s on display here.”
Another critic calls Assassin “crashingly dull” and added: “Danny Dyer’s hard man whizzes to and from his assignments on a high-powered motorbike, but this crashingly dull low-budget British crime thriller couldn’t be more pedestrian.”
Audience sentiment towards the film follows a similar track, with one scathing review stating: “Probably the worst film in the history of the World. Danny Dyer (professional cockney geezer to the uninitiated) plays the eponymous role, and he plays it in a bizarre, understated way, possibly in an attempt to show he has some sort of range. He doesn’t.. Aloof and cool is the presumed intention, but in Dyer’s inept hands the character is sullen, sulky and oddly camp.
“The plot is predictable, the gangsters are staggeringly stupid and the dialogue – it is so utterly detached from any kind of reasonable reality that it made me laugh out loud on numerous occasions. I cannot for the life of me work out how a film like this gets made – I can only assume it was for a tax write-off.”
While one review simply reads: “Dear, oh dear, oh dear! Reasonable storyline but what dreadful acting! Dyer at his best – which was awful.”
Another viewer perhaps sums up the movie in the most balanced way: “Danny D is an institution, one doesn’t watch his films to be intellectually challenged, he needs a good writer and director.”
Danny Dyer will be seen in the series premiere of ITV’s The Assembly, slated for broadcast this Saturday, April 26, at 10:05pm on ITV1.
Assassin is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
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