Review of Lautlos

Lautlos (2004)
9/10
Excellent thriller
14 February 2008
Warning: Spoilers
This is an excellent thriller/action movie. A professional hit-man becomes interested in the partner of his latest victim, who was under careful surveillance. In a way she's also a witness because he left her alive and she could have noticed something. She turns out to be distraught and he saves her. Being reluctant to engage in a relationship he appears and disappears in her life. Meanwhile a smart detective is after him noticing that this killer is characterized by his soundlessness.

I see a lot of resemblances with the movie Heat: you have the proficient and likable bad guy, an equality outstanding cop on his trail, the bad guy who is all business falls in love but is not capable of expressing it, and in the shadows is someone else controlling the bad guy. This movie though has a more satisfying ending.

This movie is intelligent, quiet, the characters also act by instinct not so much as by procedure (as in TV CSIs). It doesn't rely on loud special effects. But is thrilling when you see the bad guy act out his carefully planned hits.

My only problem is with the casting. The hit-man is indeed cast against type. The problem is that he just doesn't have the physical constitution for the job. Also it seems that at some point, the movie makers forgot about the cop. He's supposed to be the hit-man's counterpart but in the later part of the movie he gets less interesting.

A highly recommended film.
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