Along Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn, there are memories of old Ebbets Field and Betty Smith's endearing coming-of-age story "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn." Along with the friendly neighborhood atmosphere, a local cleaners is run by a nice man who delivers messages and assigns special jobs to a "contractor" named Asher. It turns out that Asher is a hit man, and the contracts are fees paid to him for committing murders.
Ron Perlman is outstanding as the mild-mannered contractor who goes by the nickname of The Tin Man. While he may have problems with his ticker, he is spot on with his shooting abilities. But this Tin Man is not missing a heart in the metaphorical sense, as he has a soft spot for one of residents in his apartment complex, a ballet instructor named Sophie (Famke Jansen).
The heart and soul of this low-key thriller is not the overly contrived power play unfolding within a Brooklyn crime syndicate. Rather, it is the touching relationship between the gentle giant Asher and the emotionally wounded Sofie, who is trying to support her mother who has dementia.
The best scenes in the film are the quiet moments between Asher and Sophie. While enjoying a nice dinner in a restaurant, Asher visits the restroom where he is attacked and kills his assailant. He then calmly returns to the table and invites Sophie to leave before their food is served. She believes he wants to have sex. He realizes he needs to escape a crime scene. In another powerful scene, Asher and Sophie pay a visit to her mother, and Asher is about to smother her with a pillow, before Sophie blunders in.
"Asher" is filled with ironic moments like the restaurant and smothering scenes. The unpleasant experience of having to look over one's shoulder all the time in the dangerous underworld of crime is not pleasant. Asher seeks a kind of redemption in the eyes of Sophie. But will he ever be able to escape his past as the trigger-happy Tin Man?
Ron Perlman is outstanding as the mild-mannered contractor who goes by the nickname of The Tin Man. While he may have problems with his ticker, he is spot on with his shooting abilities. But this Tin Man is not missing a heart in the metaphorical sense, as he has a soft spot for one of residents in his apartment complex, a ballet instructor named Sophie (Famke Jansen).
The heart and soul of this low-key thriller is not the overly contrived power play unfolding within a Brooklyn crime syndicate. Rather, it is the touching relationship between the gentle giant Asher and the emotionally wounded Sofie, who is trying to support her mother who has dementia.
The best scenes in the film are the quiet moments between Asher and Sophie. While enjoying a nice dinner in a restaurant, Asher visits the restroom where he is attacked and kills his assailant. He then calmly returns to the table and invites Sophie to leave before their food is served. She believes he wants to have sex. He realizes he needs to escape a crime scene. In another powerful scene, Asher and Sophie pay a visit to her mother, and Asher is about to smother her with a pillow, before Sophie blunders in.
"Asher" is filled with ironic moments like the restaurant and smothering scenes. The unpleasant experience of having to look over one's shoulder all the time in the dangerous underworld of crime is not pleasant. Asher seeks a kind of redemption in the eyes of Sophie. But will he ever be able to escape his past as the trigger-happy Tin Man?