This is a film that attempts to show two different sides of someone and even though the end result will probably leave you with a mixed reaction I do think that audiences will come away with a good understanding of the main character. Story is about John Anderson (Robert Duvall) who lives in New York and owns a line of beauty salons and dates a woman named Maggie (Kathy Baker) and adores her daughter Jenny (Katherine Micheaux Miller) but what they don't know about him is that he's also a professional assassin. John is employed by a local gangster named Frankie (Frank Gio) who wants him to go to Argentina and kill a General (Elvio Nessier) but John wants to make sure that he'll be back in time for Jenny's birthday and he's told it will take no longer than 3 days which convinces him to take the job. *****SPOILER ALERT***** John arrives in Buenos Aires and meets his contacts and gets all the information he needs but he also makes them understand that he will do things his way. He scopes out his target and checks out the surroundings but things go wrong when he learns that the General has had an accident which will delay things for a few weeks which makes John furious. John has always loved the tango and one night he notices a young woman dancing a more complicated version of what he has seen and this fascinates him so he asks for lessons. He meets Manuela (Luciana Pedraza) who gives him lessons and they begin a friendly and flirtatious relationship but she is unaware of why he is really in Argentina. Then one day John makes his move and kills the General before the plan calls for it and all chaos breaks out with the police and John has a very hard time getting out of the country. This film is directed and written by Robert Duvall and in his previous filmmaking efforts he has shown a tendency to allow his films to go on a bit long with scenes that could easily have been edited out to tighten the story but he does an excellent job of making sure that audiences understand his characters. His character here is about control from the way he talks to people to his appreciation of a complicated dance like the tango. This story does wander and meander back and forth between his being an assassin to his love of the tango and their are clearly scenes that could have been left out like the scene early in the film at the newstand with the cop. Since he left these in the pace and rhythm of the film suffers but it also gives us little insightful tidbits into the tickings of John. Pedraza appears to be an actress of limited experience but her performance overcomes this with her natural grace and beauty and her dancing in the film is impressive and it's easy to understand why Duvall would be attracted to her. This film is slow moving and drifts back and forth with mixed results but like "The Apostle" Duvall gives us a seriously flawed but interesting character that you cannot help but be drawn into.
Review of Assassination Tango
