Killers is one of those films designed to capitalize off the rising star power of its lead actors. Katherine Heigl and Ashton Kutcher were well known for long-running stints on two of television’s most popular shows (Grey’s Anatomy and That 70s Show, respectively) and a slew of successful films they independently led.
While Ashton Kutcher slowly stepped out of acting in movies for the most part, as he took over the lead role on Two and a Half Men the year after this film’s release, Katherine Heigl continued before she, too, settled into a series of television roles. That’s not to say that Killers in and of itself was a turning point for them. It just feels that way.
Jen Kornfeldt (Heigl) recently broke up with her boyfriend, who was supposed to travel to Nice with her and her parents. Her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Kornfeldt (Tom Selleck and Catherine O’Hara) are hilariously embarrassing towards her but are clearly loving and warm towards her in the same vein – with her mother emphasizing that she has too many rules in her life. At the same time, her father begins to explain how he and her mother managed to keep their seatbelts on while they made love the first time. Embarrassing but caring. Jen is presented as a shy and reserved woman, with awkwardness thrown in for good measure. This, of course, makes sense. She’s recently been dumped (mutually, she insists), and her parents are clearly overbearing. As a result, she’s withdrawn into her shell, which makes her a bit insecure.
Spencer Aimes (Kutcher) is a contract killer for the CIA, sent to Nice to eliminate a high-profile target. He is intelligent, elegant, and good-looking, everything we expect a fictional spy to be. Spencer can speak French fluently, is capable of snorkeling, is an expert in hand-to-hand combat, and can wield guns with finesse.
If this were a serious action film instead of an action comedy/romantic comedy, Spencer’s introduction wouldn’t feel out of place. Within his first ten minutes, he effortlessly dispatches a nameless minion so that he can keep his mission from being blown. He is not afraid of collateral damage if the mission calls for it.
When the two first meet in the elevator, he’s going down, and she’s supposed to get off on the floor he’s on. They then spend the next scene walking towards the pool and beach, with her leading the way and him following in her footsteps. What makes this hilarious is that Spencer is dressed to go to the beach. On the other hand, Jen is still wearing the clothes she arrived in. After admitting that she can’t speak French, despite smiling and nodding to everything Spencer says and a bit of light flirting, they agree to meet up again later in the day. By the second time they meet, Spencer doesn’t think anything of the fact that Jen practically dives under the table to hide from her parents – during which Jen spins lie after lie to avoid explaining that she is hiding from her parents. He’s compassionate and charming. What more could you ask for?
Spencer executes his mission and then spends one glorious evening getting to know Jen before Jen finally admits to all the lies she told. As she unloads all the differences between who she presented herself as and who she actually is, Spencer is with her the whole way – he likes her, not the persona she wove for him. After she opens up to Spencer, he decides to do the same and tells her that he’s an assassin. There’s just one problem, they’re both drunk, and she passes out in the middle of his explanation. While he continues with the explanation, he decides to finally start a real, normal life with Jen. He gives up everything to be with her, to the annoyance of the CIA.
Fast forward three years and Spencer and Jen have settled into a nice new normal in the suburbs. The CIA has not given up on pulling Spencer back in – and his old boss, Holbrook (Martin Mull), has sent him a new mission. This is where things get crazy. Have you ever felt as if you were being watched or followed? The central plot of this film is that Jen and Spencer have settled into a blasé kind of life, with friendly neighbors and coworkers that fill out their lives. It’s just that each and every single one of them turns out to be a contract killer now out to kill Spencer because there’s now a $20 million bounty on his head.
The action scenes are played for drama as well as comedy. However, at no point does the film give us the impression that Jen and Spencer are in anything other than a fight for their lives. Their pursuers, however hilariously the film plays them, are out for blood. Yes, jokes are quipped, and barbs are traded, but this is done amidst violent exchanges of gunfire, intense slashes of dangerously sharp blades, and even industrial construction equipment. These assassins want the bounty, and they will do anything in their power to get their hands on it.
A slew of people who surround Jen and Spencer turn out to be out to kill them, though the finale raises the question of why they also target Jen and her mother.
Because of this, a slew of famous actors in comedy circles fill out the supporting cast, including Alex Borstein, Rob Riggle, Lisa Ann Walter, and Casey Wilson.
Henry (Rob Riggle) is Spencer’s best friend, the first in a long line of characters trying to kill him. Spencer is incredibly betrayed by this, going through a laundry list of events that the two of them went through together that should have bonded them together. In that same vein, Kristen (Casey Wilson) is Jen’s best friend, but this does nothing to stop her from trying to kill Jen when her back is against the wall, and she might lose the $20 million. Lisa Ann Walter plays Olivia, one of Spencer’s coworkers, who effortlessly dispatches one assassin to get her shot in. Alex Borstein and Kevin Susman play Lily and Mac Bailey, a married couple who live in the neighborhood and, you guessed it, are some of those out to get that bounty. Each group gets its own little vignette as they track down Jen and Spencer, try to kill them and fail spectacularly. Because of their continuous efforts throughout the movie, Jen goes from screaming and accidentally shooting one of the assassins to actively assisting Spencer in fending them off.
Throughout the film, we are treated as if Jen’s parents are just living their lives as the craziness unfolds.
As a result, we clearly see that Mrs. Kornfeldt has a serious drinking problem that is never addressed for anything other than laughter. Somebody’s holding you at gunpoint? She doesn’t even bother to stop drinking, let alone flinch. Mrs. Kornfeldt is more interested in looking at the woman in confusion as she continues to whine and complain about having spent the last three years doing what best friends usually do. For Mr. Kornfeldt, he is ever the visage of a father who is both embarrassing and practical. Together, they are a hilariously adorable couple.
Killers plays heavily into the fact that it is an action-comedy film, letting what would otherwise be a bloodbath play out in the most hilarious fashion possible. Some of the deaths inflicted on the assassins would make Jason Voorhees blush. Still, they are all present solely to get another laugh out of the audience. Tone and context can change everything. Watching an assassin get impaled by a horn-themed chandelier wouldn’t usually be something to chuckle at. Yet here we are. Killers is one of my favorite films starring these two actors. It highlights each actor’s best abilities and allows them to enter a genre they otherwise don’t frequent.
Lloydd Marshall Books 