Hard Contract

James Coburn plays an elite, hardened assassin who travels to Europe for a series of hits that he hopes will set him up with enough money to retire, but a chance encounter with a socialite, played by Lee Remick, shakes his worldview.

Hard Contract is a frustrating film. Watching it, you can’t help but get the feeling that there’s a great film buried in here somewhere, one that’s lost amid the ever-increasing array of monologues.

The cast is good. Coburn is perfect as the emotionally disaffected hitman looking for one last score and Remick works well opposite him as an equally disaffected socialite looking to feel something, anything. Burgess Meredith is good as Coburn’s sinister boss, and Patrick Magee and Lilli Palmer give memorable turns as members of Remick’s social circle. Sterling Hayden also shows up late in a choice role that should have stolen the show.

Unfortunately, by the time Hayden makes his appearance, the script by director S. Lee Pogostin has completely lost its way. It can’t decide if it wants to be a romance, a black comedy, or a social commentary. Worst of all, Pogostin seems to have lost confidence in his own ability as a storyteller. Instead of allowing his character’s actions to speak for themselves, Pogostin has them increasingly tell us what they’re thinking and what they’re feeling, breaking the cardinal rule of show, don’t tell.

That said, Hard Contract might still be worth a look for Coburn fans willing to tolerate the film’s flaws, and perhaps for film buffs willing to look for the diamond in Pogostin’s rough. Others, however, should keep going as, for them, there’s nothing to see here.